Judge Dismisses Water Rights Lawsuit

U.S. District Judge Glen Davidson today dismissed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division and the City of Memphis finding that the Court did not have the authority to hear the dispute.

In the suit, the State of Mississippi had claimed that MLGW was misappropriating “Mississippi’s ground water” from the underground aquifer that lies beneath Tennessee, Mississippi and parts of other states.

In his ruling, Judge Davidson said that the State of Tennessee is a necessary party in any lawsuit regarding the apportionment of quantities of water rights in an interstate water body, a point MLGW raised at the beginning of the lawsuit.

“We are pleased with Judge Davidson’s ruling today,” said Charlotte Knight-Griffin, interim general counsel for MLGW. “We have maintained all along that the aquifer is a shared resource of the region.”