Although New Mexico claimed it was meeting its legal obligations with the Lone Star State, the federal government sided with Texas in a battle over whether southern New Mexico groundwater pumping is depriving Texas farmers and cities of water that should be theirs.
New Mexico lawyers argue that the state has met its requirements under the Rio Grande Compact, which is the deal dividing the river’s water among Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, groundwater pumping in New Mexico intercepts the water in the shallow aquifer that would otherwise flow to Texas via the Rio Grande. Last year, Texas asked the Supreme Court to intervene, claiming the groundwater pumping was depriving the El Paso area of water it was legally entitled.