NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A specially appointed judge will make a recommendation to the U.S. Supreme Court in a water rights dispute between Tennessee and Mississippi.
Following a hearing that concluded last week in Nashville, Mississippi and Tennessee have 90 days to prepare post-trial briefs and propose rulings to special master Eugene Siler Jr. Siler will review them before making a report to the high court, which could accept or reject his recommendation on whether the aquifer is an interstate resource.
Mississippi claims Tennessee is unlawfully pumping water from the Mississippi portion of the Memphis Sand Aquifer for use by Memphis residents.
The aquifer, which is estimated to hold 57 trillion gallons of water under Memphis alone, lies beneath parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Alabama and Louisiana.
The 13-year-old suit claims Tennessee has “invaded Mississippi’s sovereign territory” and violated Mississippi water law by taking the natural resource using wells near the states’ border. Mississippi is asking the Supreme Court to award it $615 million.