Supreme Court Rio Grande ruling could ripple through other water cases
The Supreme Court’s new ruling that rejected a state-authored settlement in the long-running legal battle over the Rio Grande could bolster the federal government’s position in negotiations over other Western waterways — including the Colorado River. The court Friday ruled 5-4 in favor of the Biden administration to rebuff the proposed settlement among the three Western states named in Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado over how to account for water use in the Rio Grande River Basin. … James Eklund, Colorado’s former top water official, predicted the Supreme Court’s decision in the Rio Grande case stands to strengthen the federal government’s “already substantial role” in brokering interstate water agreements.
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