Texas v. New Mexico (65-Orig)
argument 65-OrigTexas v. New Mexico
Supreme Court of the United States
1h 14m
8 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 5 days ago
official recording ↗
Transcript
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What is the core legal dispute between Texas and New Mexico over water allocation?
We will hear argument next in case number sixty five on our original docket. state of Texas versus the state of New Mexico. General Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the court. The Rivermaster's decision to award evaporative loss delivery credits to New Mexico effectively deprives the farmers and businesses of West Texas of a year's worth of irrigation and threatens incalculable economic harm should New Mexico redeem those credits during a drought year. That result is unlawful substantively under the Pecos River Compact and procedurally under this court's nineteen eighty eight amended decree. New Mexico and the Rivermaster have offered only two theories justifying these delivery credits. But each violates the plain text of the compact that Congress approved. New Mexico's lead argument is Article twelve. But as the United States correctly points out, Article twelve cannot and does not justify the Rivermaster's decision.
It applies only to consumptive use of water by the United States and there was no use here at all. The United States merely re regulated the water for public safety purposes and released it not when it could be used, but when the public emergency expired. The only other substantive provision New Mexico and the Rivermaster have pointed to is C five of the Rivermaster Manual. But C five applies only in two situations. And neither one is presented here. The first is under Article six D when dealing with unappropriated floodwaters. But here the river master determined that these waters are not unappropriated floodwaters, and the parties haven't challenged that. So Article six D doesn't apply. The second is under Article twelve.
Which, as I mentioned a moment ago, is not implicated here, where there's no use at all. The compact sets the rules. And the manual simply turns those rules into math. Here the compact prohibits charging Texas for these evaporative losses that occurred in New Mexico and nothing in the manual can supersede that.
Council, before you before you go any further, I I want to clear away some uh underbrush here. You spend an awful uh lot of time in your brief uh talking about forfeiture and waiver and a stoppel. Uh you haven't mentioned that here and I you don't really think we would decide a case of this importance between two states on the basis of those doctrines, do you?
Well, Mr. Chief Justice, I think there's two ways to decide this case. One is on the substance and the other is on procedure. And indeed I think there would be a good reason, Mr. Chief Justice, to refuse to entertain what the Rivermaster did here on procedural grounds. This court's nineteen eighty eight amended decree specified specific time periods and deadlines for a reason. It's partly to manage this court's own docket, but it's also, I think, an acknowledgement that the farmers and businesses in West Texas rely on predictability and some level of certainty. They uh this water is central to their livelihoods and to be in a position where we're arguing about emails and waiver that happened six years ago I think is a disservice to the real world impact that this has, which I think is what the court was acknowledging in nineteen eighty eight.
You uh say that the water at issue here uh can't be considered stored in the Brantley Reservoir uh uh for Texas, right?
That's correct, Mr Chief Justice.
But but Commissioner Tate, uh on page sixty one A of your appendix uh specifically asked uh that New Mexico store Texas's portion of the flows until such time as they can be utilized uh uh by Texas. And the the email was in fact titled Texas Request for Storage. W what do you do with that?
Mr Chief Justice, that email is talking about storing Texas's portion of unappropriated floodwaters, and you don't have to take my word for it. New Mexico's response, Your Honor, at sixty three A confirms that New Mexico understood this to be a communication about unappropriated floodwaters. New Mexico is not in charge of Brantley, and indeed for two months before that email at sixty one A, the Bureau had already been re regulating the water as page sixty six A terms.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the core legal dispute between Texas and New Mexico over water allocation?
0:00–10:18
2
How does the Court’s 1988 amended decree shape the procedural arguments in this case?
10:18–17:36
3
Why does Texas argue that the Pecos River Compact prohibits credit for evaporative losses?
17:36–26:49
4
What role does the River Master’s Manual (especially C‑5) play in determining evaporation credits?
26:49–35:33
5
How do the parties interpret Article 12 and Article 6‑C of the compact regarding consumptive use?
35:33–44:20
6
Is the timing of the River Master’s decision a jurisdictional barrier or a procedural issue?
44:20–53:53
7
What are the real‑world impacts on West Texas farmers and New Mexico residents if the Court rules for either side?
53:53–1:03:07
8
What is the final position of the Court on the River Master’s determination and the compact’s strict application?
1:03:07–1:14:46