What you should know about the Texas-New Mexico fight over Rio Grande water
A U.S. Supreme Court case over how water from the Rio Grande is allocated is underway and may finally put an end to a years-long dispute over how border states use the precious resource.
The river supplies water to millions of people and wildlife along its shores in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. Nearly 80% of its water is used in agriculture, but its also a major source of water for cities like Albuquerque and El Paso.
The dispute over the rivers water between the states and the federal government started a decade ago. In a 2011 federal lawsuit, New Mexico alleged the federal government shorted New Mexico its share of Rio Grande water, and gave too much to Texas. It escalated when Texas filed a new lawsuit against New Mexico in the U.S. Supreme Court three years later.
Below is El Paso Matters guide to the people, agencies and arguments in the case, officially called Original 141: Texas versus New Mexico and Colorado.
Read more: https://elpasomatters.org/2021/10/12/what-you-should-know-about-the-texas-new-mexico-fight-over-rio-grande-water/