| CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday approved a
settlement of an old dispute between Nebraska and Wyoming over water from
the North Platte River.
By following the recommendation of a special master appointed to the
case, the high court ended 15 years of litigation that has cost the states
about $20 million.
The states agreed in March to resolve the issue by forming a North
Platte Decree Committee made up of water officials from the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation, Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado.
Gov. Jim Geringer called the Supreme Court's approval "a
much-needed victory for both sides."
"Nebraska receives greater certainty that Wyoming will continue to
administer water rights in accordance with the decree, while Wyoming is
able to protect existing water uses in the North Platte River Basin,"
he said. "We can now look forward, not backward."
Chris Peterson, spokesman for Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns, said the
settlement marks "the beginning of a new period of cooperation on
water issues between Nebraska and Wyoming.
"This settlement is not perfect, but is a good solution
considering all of the moving pieces, the number of stakeholders and the
many years of litigation," he said.
Tom Davidson, a Wyoming deputy attorney general who has worked on the
case, said he expected the Supreme Court to adopt the 300-page settlement
in full, like it did, but not so quickly. Special Master Owin Olpin
endorsed the settlement less than a month ago.
"There's obviously going to be a lot of legal actions that will
stem from the agreement," he said. "But this litigation is
over."
The North Platte begins in Colorado and loops through Wyoming into
Nebraska. In central Nebraska, it and the South Platte River merge to form
the Platte River, which flows east to the Missouri River near Omaha.
The conflict between Nebraska and Wyoming over North Platte River water
dates to the 1930s.
A 1934 lawsuit filed by Nebraska was resolved in 1945 by the U.S.
Supreme Court when it divided the river's flow at the state line at 75
percent for Nebraska and 25 percent for Wyoming.
Nebraska filed another lawsuit in 1986 against Wyoming, accusing it of
using more than its share of water as allotted in the 1945 decree.
Since then a number of interim agreements were reached on some issues,
but the heart of the lawsuit was not settled until now.
Under the settlement, Wyoming will administer water rights in
accordance with the decree, with some changes.
Nebraska had asked to cut Wyoming water users back to 1930 levels and
for $100 million in damages. Under the settlement, no Wyoming water users
will be cut off and the state will pay nothing to Nebraska. |