Tennessee Urges Supreme Court to Reject Mississippi Water Claims

Tennessee is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to toss claims that it’s stealing water from neighboring Mississippi.

A court-appointed special master correctly rejected Mississippi’s allegations that groundwater pumping in Memphis took Mississippi water and violated that state’s sovereignty, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III said in a brief Friday.

The dispute centers on whether the Memphis utility’s pumping of a vast aquifer in the region interfered with Mississippi’s authority over its land and waters. Mississippi asked the Supreme Court to recognize the state’s sovereign right to the groundwater and order Tennessee to pay damages.

The special master refereeing ...