The Supreme Court of the United States split five to four to reject the recommendation of its own special master to accept a multi-state consent decree on Rio Grande water rights.
The high court’s order goes against a joint motion from the states of Texas and New Mexico that was the result of over a decade of negotiations and a phase-one trial that also included the state of Colorado, water districts and farmers in southern New Mexico and far west Texas, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
