Supreme Court considers long-running water dispute between Kansas, Nebraska
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The Supreme Court is considering how to resolve a long-running legal fight between Kansas and Nebraska over the use of water from the Republican River.
The justices on Tuesday appeared to agree with recommendations of a special master who found Nebraska should pay $3.7 million in damages to Kansas for using more than its legal share of the river's water in 2005 and 2006.
But they were more doubtful about making Nebraska pay a $1.8 million penalty that exceeds Kansas' actual damages. The justices also seemed skeptical about Nebraska's push to change the formula for measuring water consumption. Nebraska says the formula is unfair.
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The dispute centers on a 1943 compact that allocates 49 percent of the river's water to Nebraska, 40 percent to Kansas and 11 percent to Colorado.