Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann, 569 U.S. 614 (2013), was a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

case in which the Court held that Oklahoma statutes forbidding the export of water from the state are not preempted or forbidden by the Red River Compact.

Background

Since 1980, water from the

Red River of the South The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major river in the Southern United States. It was named for its reddish water color from passing through red-bed country in its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name. ...

has been allocated by the Red River Compact, which had been signed by the four basin states in 1978 before being ratified by Congress. However, since the signing of the Compact there had been large-scale population growth in the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is a conurbated metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas encompassing 11 counties and ancho ...

which lies just south from the Red River basin, which by the middle 2000s had led to substantial water shortages in

Tarrant County Tarrant County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2020, it had a population of 2,110,640. It is Texas' third-most populous county and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County, one ...

and a number of adjacent counties covered by the Compact. Consequently, in 2007 the

Tarrant Regional Water District The Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) is a water district in Texas. It provides raw water for over 2.1 million people, implements vital flood control measures and creates recreational opportunities for the residents of 11 North Texas Counties. ...

asked the

Oklahoma Water Resources Board The Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) is an agency in the government of Oklahoma under the Governor of Oklahoma. OWRB is responsible for managing and protection the water resources of Oklahoma as well as for planning for the state's long-rang ...

to purchase water from the

Kiamichi River The Kiamichi River is a river in southeastern Oklahoma, United States of America. A tributary of the Red River of the South, its headwaters rise on Pine Mountain in the Ouachita Mountains near the Arkansas border. From its source in Polk County, ...

, and also asked the Oklahoma Apache Tribe for permission to purchase groundwater from within Stephens County. However, Oklahoma has a moratorium on out-of-state water sales. Texas appealed to the federal District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma because they believed that the

Dormant Commerce Clause The Dormant Commerce Clause, or Negative Commerce Clause, in American constitutional law, is a legal doctrine that courts in the United States have inferred from the Commerce Clause in Article I of the US Constitution. The primary focus of the do ...

and the

Supremacy Clause The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States ( Article VI, Clause 2) establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme Law of the Land", and thu ...

barred Oklahoma's statutes that prevent out-of-state water sales. Initially, the District Court would deny the Oklahoma Water Resources Board’s motion to dismiss the case. However Judge Joe L. Heaton suggested that the moratorium applied not only to contracts (as the Oklahoma Water Resources Board had argued), but also to Tarrant Regional Water District’s permit application.Baker, Max B.; ‘Oklahoma Appeals Ruling’; ''

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter ...

'', March 20, 2008, p. 18 Judge Heaton did allow further appeals to higher courts, but once the Tarrant Regional Water District appealed to the Tenth Circuit, it was ruled by that court that Oklahoma’s statutes were entirely consistent with the Red River Compact. The Tenth Circuit concluded that the Red River Compact was designed so that each state would possess complete control over those waters within its boundaries. The Tenth Circuit would also resoundingly rule against Tarrant Regional Water District’s attempt to purchase water from the Apache Tribe in Stephens County, Oklahoma. In this context the Tenth Circuit argued that none of the parties had filed for a permit to use the groundwater and that the controversy is not even justiciable.

References

External links

* {{cite web, url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2012/11-889_p8k0.pdf, publisher=Supreme Court of the United States, title=TARRANT REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT, Petitioner v. RUDOLF JOHN HERRMANN, ET AL. Oral Argument, date=April 23, 2013

Background

References

External links

See also