Settlement talks in Supreme Court Rio Grande water case push back trial

 Parties in the rancorous lawsuit between Texas and New Mexico over groundwater pumping on the Rio Grande are in settlement talks to possibly end the dispute.

As the fight before the U.S. Supreme Court stretches into its ninth year, ending litigation would mean a lower cost for taxpayers, who’ve already shelled out more than $30 million between the two states.

Judge Michael Melloy, who oversees the case as special master, postponed the second part of the trial in an order issued last week and gave parties until March 1 to let the court know how settlement talks are proceeding. The second part of the trial was initially slated to begin March 13.

If a settlement agreement isn’t reached, Melloy will schedule an in-person trial in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for late summer into the fall, the order stated.

The case — officially called No. 141 Original Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado — is the latest lawsuit over water between Texas and New Mexico.

In a 2011 federal lawsuit, New Mexico alleged the federal government shorted the state its share of Rio Grande water, and gave too much to Texas...MORE