Commission official says Carlsbad Irrigation District still likely to have water shortfall
Even with pumping from its wellfields in southeastern New Mexico, the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission thinks the Carlsbad Irrigation District will have significantly less than 50,000 acre-feet of water available for the 2021 irrigation season, a state official said.
Hannah Riseley-White, deputy director of the commission and the Pecos River Basin bureau chief, gave an update Friday about the use of the wellfields at Seven Rivers near Brantley Reservoir and at Lake Arthur.
She said almost 6,000 acre-feet of water has been delivered from the two wellfields to Brantley since October.
In December, the US Supreme Court issued an opinion in
Texas v. New Mexico, a water law dispute involving the Pecos River.
The Compact
The Pecos River runs from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe, New Mexico, through New Mexico and Texas, and eventually into the Rio Grande River at the Texas-Mexico border near Del Rio, Texas. In 1949, Texas and New Mexico signed the Pecos River Compact, and Congress ratified the Compact. The Compact provides for the “equitable division and apportionment of the use of the waters of the Pecos River” with the intent to “remove causes of present and future controversies.”
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In August 2020, we outlined four notable interstate water rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court that are likely to change how states use and treat water as a resource. One of those cases,
Texas v. New Mexico, addresses how states may allocate their respective water rights under an interstate compact if water allocated under the compact evaporates. On 14 December 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that water held by New Mexico at the request of Texas must be credited as delivered, despite the fact that a significant portion of the water at issue had evaporated. The court’s decision highlights how interstate disputes over shared water resources will likely turn on decisions made by court-appointed third parties, and how unexpected weather events caused by climate change can have long-term consequences for water allocation.
TEXAS V. NEW MEXICO
In August 2020, we outlined four notable interstate water rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court that are likely to change how states use and treat water as a resource. One of those cases,
Texas v. New Mexico, addresses how states may allocate their respective water rights under an interstate compact if water allocated under the compact evaporates. On 14 December 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that water held by New Mexico at the request of Texas must be credited as delivered, despite the fact that a significant portion of the water at issue had evaporated. The court’s decision highlights how interstate disputes over shared water resources will likely turn on decisions made by court-appointed third parties, and how unexpected weather events caused by climate change can have long-term consequences for water allocation.
December 15, 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday morning in favor of New Mexico in a water dispute case with Texas involving the Pecos River Compact. The court denied a motion to review the Pecos River Master’s decision regarding evaporative losses that occurred while New Mexico was storing water upstream for Texas.
After a tropical storm hit the area in September 2014, the state of Texas asked New Mexico to store water it would normally deliver to Texas under the compact in the Brantley Reservoir while Texas grappled with flooding issues related to the storm.
Texas finally asked for the water to be released in August 2015, but by then, roughly 20,000 acre-feet of water had evaporated. Under the compact’s River Master’s Manual, New Mexico is not responsible for making up evaporative water losses when the state is holding water at the request of Texas. In 2017, the river master determined that New Mexico’s delivery obligation would be reduced by 16,000 acre feet as a