Tribes Side with Oklahoma in Supreme Court Water Case

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

While their own fight for control of southeastern Oklahoma water is ongoing, the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations are supporting the state in its upcoming Supreme Court battle with Texas.

The tribes on Thursday filed court briefs supporting Oklahoma’s side in Tarrant Regional Water District vs. Herrmann, an OK/TX water war that could impact dozens of other interstate and international water-sharing agreements.

The Journal Record’s M. Scott Carter reports:

In their brief, the tribes said they were interested in the lawsuit because some of the water in the dispute is in an area that includes their homeland.