ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas says the state is in what he describes as a "historic fist fight" with Texas and the U.S. government over management of one of North America's longest rivers.
Balderas made the comments during a presentation this week to members of a key legislative committee as he provided an update of the legal battle that has been simmering before the U.S. Supreme Court since 2013.
His office is seeking $4.5 million for the next fiscal year to pay for the ongoing litigation as well as a team of scientists who will spend the next year modeling the surface flows of the Rio Grande and the river's relationship to groundwater sources.
Briefings are scheduled next month. But Balderas says it will likely be more than a year before the case makes it to trial.