Supreme Court Hands Win to Tennessee in Water Resource Fight (1)

The U.S. Supreme Court found that Tennessee didn’t steal groundwater from Mississippi, in a dispute with wide-ranging implications for how states manage natural resources.

The justices in Mississippi v. Tennessee said in a unanimous decision that interstate groundwater is covered by equitable apportionment, which is the standard process by which water resources are shared.

It’s the high court’s first use of the equitable apportionment doctrine related to interstate groundwater.

Mississippi accused a Memphis utility of improperly pumping water out of an interstate aquifer spanning the region, claiming it wasn’t a “shared resource.” The dispute centered on whether the utility interfered ...