The state of Mississippi asserts Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division is pumping water from the Memphis Sand (pictured) and the Sparta Sand aquifers that belong to Mississippi. Memphis city attorneys counter that the aquifers are an interstate resource, and Mississippi cannot claim ownership to them without formal apportioning.

The state of Mississippi has filed a 300-page motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to reopen a 2005 lawsuit against Memphis, Tenn., and the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division (MLGWD). Mississippi wants permission from the court to file a new complaint against MLGWD for $615 million in damages. The motion asserts Memphis is pumping more than 140 million gallons of groundwater a day across states lines that belongs to Mississippi. The court filing estimates 252 billion gallons "forcibly" taken since 1985.

The original groundwater lawsuit was filed by Mississippi Atty. Gen. Jim Hood in 2005, and sought $1.3 billion in damages. In February 2008, U.S. Dist. Judge Glen Davidson ruled his court lacked jurisdiction, a ruling upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In January 2010, the Supreme Court denied Mississippi's motion to overturn the appellate ruling and rejected without comment the state's motion to file a new suit.