In the 1981 case Texas v. Oklahoma, the Supreme Court was asked to resolve a dispute between these two states over their shared boundary along the Red River. The controversy arose when oil and gas were discovered beneath this river, prompting both states to claim ownership of these resources. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Texas, determining that its border extended up to the vegetation line on the south bank of the Red River according to an 1819 treaty with Spain which established this as its northern boundary. Therefore, any oil or gas found under portions of riverbed within those boundaries belonged exclusively to Texas.

In the dissenting opinion for Texas v. Oklahoma, 1981, Justice William Rehnquist disagreed with the majority's decision to grant Texas' motion for leave to file a bill of complaint against Oklahoma over water rights in the Red River. He argued that there was no substantial controversy between the states and that any dispute should be resolved by Congress rather than through litigation. According to him, this case did not meet requirements set out in previous cases such as Massachusetts v. Missouri (1939) and Maryland v. Louisiana (1979), which required an actual or imminent threat of injury before granting leave to file a bill of complaint between states under original jurisdiction rules.