New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

In 2003, the state of Texas threatened to file suit against New Mexico because New Mexico was not protecting releases of Rio Grande Project supply from Elephant Butte reservoir that were destined for an irrigation district in Texas. In 2008, the Bureau of Reclamation and the two irrigation districts reached a settlement on how water between the two districts in the Project would be divided and how the Texas district would be guaranteed its Project releases.  On February 14, 2012, the New Mexico Attorney General filed suit in federal district court in New Mexico seeking to overturn the Operating Agreement Settlement claiming it was unfair to New Mexico. On 4 January 2013, the state of Texas responded by filing a motion in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking permission to file a complaint stating that New Mexico was depleting surface waters of the Rio Grande from Elephant Butte Dam to the New Mexico-Texas state line, causing substantial and irreparable injury to Texas. This talk will give an abbreviated history of the Rio Grande Project, and discuss the origins of the dispute that led to the Supreme Court action. It will also discuss the Operating Agreement that is the heart of this controversy including New Mexico farmers’ supplemental pumping and the ramifications of carry-over storage for the two districts.