TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Nov 11, 2020

Mississippi’s bid to make Memphis pay more than $615 million for allegedly stolen water has taken a serious hit, the Daily Memphian reports. A special master appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court to assess the case recently recommended the court rule against Mississippi. However, Eugene E. Siler Jr. did encourage the court to give the Magnolia State an opportunity to pursue a water-sharing arrangement. The recommendation is the latest action in a 15-year-old cross-border dispute in which DeSoto County alleges that Memphis and Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division take 60 million gallons of water a day that rightfully belong to it. Siler has concluded that water in the Memphis Sand or Sparta Sand aquifer is an interstate resource that cannot be confined within one state’s borders.