- Court: United States Supreme Court
- Area(s) of Law: Water Rights
- Date Filed: December 14, 2020
- Case #: 65, Orig.
- Judge(s)/Court Below: KAVANAUGH, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and THOMAS, BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, KAGAN, and GORSUCH, JJ., joined. ALITO, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part. BARRETT, J., took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
- Full Text Opinion
New Mexico and Texas are given equal apportionment to use the river's waters under the 1949 interstate Pecos River Compact. During a tropical storm in 2014, Texas asked New Mexico to store the water temporarily from the River to prevent flooding in into Texas. New Mexico agreed and by the time New Mexico released the water a few months later, a significant amount of the water had evaporated. The River Master gave New Mexico delivery credit for the water that evaporated, abiding by §C.5 of the River Master’s Manual. Texas argued that it should receive the credit instead since New Mexico was actually holding the water. New Mexico argued that they should have the credit because the water was stored at Texas’s request. The Court agreed with New Mexico. The Court explained that the text of § C.5 and evidence on the record of correspondence between the states establish that New Mexico is authorized to receive the delivery credit for the evaporated water during its storage there at Texas’s request. AFFIRMED.