Colorado governor asks Supreme Court to reject Nebraska lawsuit over water rights
Colorado leaders have requested that the Supreme Court refuse a case over water rights in the South Platte River.
The state of Nebraska filed a lawsuit this summer against Colorado over a 100-year-old agreement on water rights. The Nebraska governor and Nebraska attorney general said Colorado is not following the agreement about sharing water from the South Platte River.
The conflict over water rights between the two states stretches back more than a century. In 1915, Nebraska filed suit against Colorado over the South Platte River, prompting Colorado State Commissioner D.E. Carpenter to enter discussions with Nebraska in 1921, and the South Platte River Compact was ratified in April 1923.
The compact states that the goal of the agreement was "to remove all causes of present and future controversy between said States, and between citizens of one against citizens of the other, with respect to waters of the South Platte River."
The compact requires Colorado to allow 120 cubic feet of water per second into Nebraska during the irrigation season, which stretches from April 1 to Oct. 15. It would also allow Nebraska to divert 500 cubic feet of water per second during the non-irrigation season if the state builds a canal.
The lawsuit filed in July accuses Colorado of depriving Nebraska of water it's entitled to and blocking it from building the Perkins Canal, a reservoir to divert water into Nebraska.
"They want it all. They have no interest in anything being fair in this," said Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen.
Former Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts told the Associated Press they have "concerns that Colorado's plans for the river could reduce water flows into his state by as much as 90%, taking a potentially huge toll on Nebraska's agricultural and power industries and likely affecting water supplies in the state's two largest cities, Omaha and Lincoln."
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis responded to the lawsuit, stating, "Colorado has always been in compliance with the South Platte Compact and other applicable agreements. We have also continued to meet in good faith with Nebraska, despite its attempts to intimidate Colorado landowners and damage our agricultural communities."
The compact allows Nebraska to condemn land in Colorado for the project, and the state has set aside $628 million to build the canal. Polis said Colorado does not object to the canal project.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser accused Nebraska of trying to skip an established process by asking the Supreme Court to step in.
"It would be an ambitious and unique sort of project to undertake," said Weiser. "If they choose to undertake it, they need to follow the process, which starts with this permitting process they have barely even commenced."
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said he wants the Supreme Court to rule on the case, but Polis has asked the high court to refuse the lawsuit.
The Supreme Court has not said if it will take up the case.