Here are some significant environmental and regulatory rulings and administrative actions from December 2020.
THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
Texas v. New Mexico
On December 14, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a water rights controversy involving sharing the water of the Pecos River. The 1949 Pecos River Compact provides for the equitable apportionment of the use of the Pecos River’s water by New Mexico and Texas, and a “River Master’s Manual,” approved by the Court in 1988, implements the Compact. These are very dry areas, and access to this water is very important. In 2014, a rare tropical storm drenched the Pecos River Basin, and Texas asked New Mexico to temporarily store the water that would otherwise flow into Texas. A few months later, New Mexico released the water to Texas, but the quantity was reduced because some of the water held by New Mexico had evaporated. The River Master awarded a delivery credit to New Mexico, and after Texas objected, Texas “in response”
florence as rescuers race to save survivors from what are now flooded homes. brian: some entire communities are cut off by this historic flooding. ainsley: one of those places is pollocksville, north carolina. that s where we find griff jenkins. all about the rivers, the cape fear river in fayetteville and lumberton river. the entire town underwater and cut off from civilization. it s crazy here. we saw the helicopters coming in, bringing supplies. we have seen local and federal assets coming. in and mr. bell, if you could come in we ran into darryl bell. a lifelong resident. he owns a business here. what do you make of, this darryl. what has happened? we have had a lot of rain and a lot of wind. a lot of devastation and a lot of families had to relocate and we do definitely have a mess as you can see i don t know if we ll ever be the same
cruz had said in part, quote, they want us to be just like california right down to tofu and silicone and dyed hair. it s worth noting that cruz s wife heidi is a vegetarian from california. let s get a check on your weather with bill karins. here s what we re dealing with in north carolina. eastern north carolina, the remnants are just about cresting in most cases. then they re going to come down from here. the cape fear river is one of the biggest ones and also the noose river, the river that flooded new bern with the water that same from the sound. a lot of places still under what we call major flood stage. a couple gauges near the lumberton river also in record flood stage. it s continuing to come down in areas of the east. heavier downpours just outside
reporter: there are ongoing rescue operations across the region as water levels continue to rise. the lumberton river invaded neighborhoods not yet recovered after hurricane matthew two years ago. this shows the devastation at ground level. dozens who thought they survived the worst of hurricane florence relying on rescue workers as they leave their homes behind. some people say they ve been praying for a while, some people are crying, sonde are just like, thank you, lord, you know. reporter: searching for survivors in submerged trucks and hovering above homes to air lift citizens to safety. this woman was stranded in her house for days without medication. one mieyrtle beach says we are, quote, slowly becoming an island as citizens try to make their way by car and canoe. we re seeing five-year flood levels. it is not a matter of days but weeks and months and maybe a year to recover from the storm.
we have mentioned many of these rescues take place on this street here in lumberton, turned into a boat ramp. we have seen these volunteers come and go. in fact, a little while ago, we may have some video of this woman and her puppies getting rescued from her home. she says this is much worse than what they witnessed during hurricane matthew about two years ago. some good news here, some officials telling us the majority of areas that were deeply affected were evacuated. and a lot of that has to do with what you just mentioned, that temporary barrier, that temporary levee that was erected in a certain part of town where the waters breached two years ago. we were with the coast guard and watched as that levee was compromised. the water was seeping through the rubble that was used to reinforce that. however, that bought people time to head to higher ground. and we re told thousands of people are already safe since the lumberton river crested overnight. the other issue, access. getting in