Justices Probe High Court’s Jurisdiction in Rio Grande Case (1)

Supreme Court justices questioned during oral arguments Wednesday whether the high court was the proper venue for the US government to challenge a consent agreement among Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado regarding water.

The original jurisdiction case, Texas v. New Mexico, has been pending at the court for a decade. Texas originally alleged that New Mexico was taking too much water under the Rio Grande Compact.

The states agreed to settle, but after the court in 2018 allowed the US to intervene, the federal government objected because it didn’t consent to the settlement.

“Our original jurisdiction is for litigation ...