Friday, November 7, 2014

WATER RIGHTS CASES BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT

By TONI ELLINGTON

The U.S. Supreme Court will allow the State of Florida to file its complaint against the State of Georgia in a long-standing dispute over water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.  The issue in the case is whether the State of Florida is entitled to equitable apportionment of the waters in the Basin.  See Florida v. Georgia, Case No. 220142.  Florida claims that Georgia’s increasing use of the fresh water from the Basin has decreased the flows into the Apalachicola River and the Apalachicola Bay.  These bodies of water produced 90% of Florida’s oyster harvest and 10% of the nation’s oysters in 2012.  Florida claims the oyster harvest has plummeted to a fraction of the 2012 levels due to lack of fresh water from the Basin.

In another water rights case, Texas v. New Mexico, No. 141, the Supreme Court appointed A. Gregory Grimsal of New Orleans, Louisiana, as Special Master to fix the time and conditions for filing additional pleadings and to issue subpoenas and summon witnesses in the case.  Mr. Grimsal is an attorney from the Gordon Arata law firm.  

Texas v. New Mexico involves a dispute over whether New Mexico is in violation of the Rio Grande Compact and the Rio Grande Project Act, which apportion the water in the Rio Grande.  The U.S. Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over the lawsuit pursuant to Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives the Court jurisdiction over cases “in which a State may be a Party.”

The Rio Grande originates in Colorado and flows south through New Mexico, crossing into Texas near El Paso.  Texas claims that New Mexico is breaching the Compact and using more than its share of water.

For further updates, stay tuned to this blog, or contact Toni Ellington at (504) 599-8500.

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