Texas v. New Mexico (141-Orig)
argument 141-OrigTexas v. New Mexico
Supreme Court of the United States
57 min
6 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 6 days ago
official recording ↗
Transcript
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What is the Rio Grande Compact and why does it matter to Texas, New Mexico, and the United States?
We'll hear argument first this morning in case, the original case, number 141, Texas versus New Mexico and Colorado. Ms. O'Connell.
Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court. The Rio Grande Compact is an unusual interstate compact in that it does not require New Mexico to deliver water to the Texas state line. Instead, when the compact was adopted in 1939, it incorporated and relied upon an existing Bureau of Reclamation project as part of the Equitable Apportionment Framework. Because reclamation controls releases from the project for delivery to contract holders below the reservoir and in Mexico, the State of New Mexico asserted that this case could not go forward without the United States' participation as a party to be bound by this Court's decree. To permit a full resolution of the dispute... The United States intervened as a plaintiff, filed a complaint that presented the federal government's interests that are at stake in this dispute, and explained how injunctive relief against New Mexico could be shaped to protect those interests.
In its complaint, the United States did not distinguish between claims brought pursuant to the compact and claims brought pursuant to other laws. That distinction is at issue because the master in his recommendation distinguished between such claims.
I'd like to know what they are. So could you identify them first and then tell me how any interests have not been addressed in the New Mexico State action? I know that's not an issue in this discrete question before us, but I still don't quite understand why you need this claim. What's different from that New Mexico claim?
You're asking about the difference between a compact claim and a claim brought under reclamation law, for example. I think the problem we're trying to avoid here is that when the United States sues somebody for a violation of reclamation law, taking water from a reclamation project without a contract, or acting in a way that undermines the United States' ability to comply with a treaty. It's typically suing the individual water users that are violating those laws or interfering with that obligation of the United States to deliver water under a treaty. What we're trying to avoid here is a future motion to dismiss filed by New Mexico, which indicates or insinuates on page 14 of its reply brief that the
actions brought under reclamation law or under the treaty should be filed against individual water users. We think we can file these claims against New Mexico because of the compact. We can file them against the State of New Mexico because New Mexico has agreed in the compact to protect the project and to protect water that's released from the project
to meet its — He recognized the claim under that law. But did you make any claim under that law, or were you staking your claim on your compact claim?
Our complaint doesn't distinguish between claims brought under the compact and claims brought under reclamation law. What our complaint does, as we've done in other cases where we've intervened as a plaintiff, is set forth what the United States' interests are and then tell the court how we think it can shape injunctive relief against New Mexico to protect those interests.
Can you explain at the outset, you're not claiming that every time there's a compact — approved by Congress, you would have a right to come into court as a party. That's correct. And so what's the dividing line between when you can come in as a party under a compact and when, despite a compact, you can't come in?
Where the compact protects specific federal interests that are at stake in the dispute that's been filed in this Court, then we believe the United States can intervene as a plaintiff and bring claims against New Mexico that are based on that compact. But what's
the federal interest that was in the compact? The compact does not make any reference to your treaty obligations or to how you meet those. It doesn't appear to make any reference to any of the Federal interests that you've been identifying.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the Rio Grande Compact and why does it matter to Texas, New Mexico, and the United States?
0:00–7:37
2
How does the United States argue that it is a required party to the water‑rights dispute?
7:37–14:26
3
What federal interests—treaty, reclamation, and interstate apportionment—are at stake in this case?
14:26–22:05
4
Why do the parties dispute whether the United States can bring a claim under the compact versus under reclamation law?
22:05–29:38
5
How do the treaty obligations with Mexico influence the parties’ legal strategies?
29:38–35:50
6
What precedent does the Court look to for allowing a federal government to intervene in interstate compact disputes?
35:50–42:23
7
How might allowing the United States to sue under the compact affect future water‑right compacts nationwide?
42:23–51:12
8
What are the final arguments about the scope of the United States’ rights and the practical impact on Texas’s water apportionment?
51:12–57:38