Biden admin backs Tenn. over Miss. in aquifer dispute

摘要

The Biden administration said last week that Mississippi was wrong to claim sole authority over an aquifer thatstraddles the Tennessee line in a legal battle that is now before the nation's highest bench.Groundwater in the Middle Claiborne Aquifer should be subject to equitable apportionment, the doctrine thatgoverns the Supreme Court's allocation of water resources between states, the Department of Justice wrote in abrief docketed Friday."Mississippi nevertheless contends that the doctrine of equitable apportionment does not apply to thegroundwater here because Mississippi has sovereign authority over all waters within its borders, including thegroundwater at issue," DOJ wrote.