Post by pavel on Mar 20, 2016 2:42:58 GMT -6
The city of Memphis, its utility and state of Tennessee — all defendants in a water-stealing lawsuit filed by Mississippi — have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the suit, saying no state can claim ownership of any part of the aquifer at the center of the litigation until the resource has been equitably allocated.
The U.S. Department of Justice, through Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., joined the city, the Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division and state in filing motions seeking dismissal of the suit.
Mississippi's response to the motions is due March 28.
The litigation is rooted in Mississippi's claim that Memphis, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division and Tennessee have been "forcibly" taking its water through excessive pumping from an aquifer underlying both states. The utility, by pumping some 140 million gallons a day from the Memphis Sand aquifer, has created low spots in the water table called cones of depression that cause water from beneath Mississippi to flow across state lines into Tennessee, the suit claims.
Mississippi seeks restitution for the estimated $615 million worth of water it says has been stolen since 1985. The suit also demands a halt to the pumping practices that have redirected the flow of aquifer water — a move that could force Memphis to use the Mississippi River for at least some of its drinking supply.
Read more: www.commercialappeal.com/news/government/city/memphis-and-state-ask-supreme-court-to-dismiss-mississippis-water-suit-2e5bc3b5-37b1-6e22-e053-01000-372667081.html
The U.S. Department of Justice, through Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., joined the city, the Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division and state in filing motions seeking dismissal of the suit.
Mississippi's response to the motions is due March 28.
The litigation is rooted in Mississippi's claim that Memphis, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division and Tennessee have been "forcibly" taking its water through excessive pumping from an aquifer underlying both states. The utility, by pumping some 140 million gallons a day from the Memphis Sand aquifer, has created low spots in the water table called cones of depression that cause water from beneath Mississippi to flow across state lines into Tennessee, the suit claims.
Mississippi seeks restitution for the estimated $615 million worth of water it says has been stolen since 1985. The suit also demands a halt to the pumping practices that have redirected the flow of aquifer water — a move that could force Memphis to use the Mississippi River for at least some of its drinking supply.
Read more: www.commercialappeal.com/news/government/city/memphis-and-state-ask-supreme-court-to-dismiss-mississippis-water-suit-2e5bc3b5-37b1-6e22-e053-01000-372667081.html