Solicitor General urges Supreme Court to take up part of Nebraska-Colorado water dispute case
Nebraska officials are looking to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide a legal battle with Colorado over water rights tied to the South Platte River and the proposed Perkins County Canal project.Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said this week he expects the court to decide by the end of June whether it will hear Nebraska’s claims that Colorado is withholding water promised under a century-old interstate agreement. U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer advised the court to take that up in a brief this week.”The Supreme Court will give us our next step,” Hilgers said. “Ideally, we get everything in front of the United States Supreme Court. If we do, then we’ll have a vehicle to resolve all of our questions in one forum.”Nebraska has already committed more than $600 million toward the Perkins County Canal project, which supporters say would help the state access water promised under the 1923 South Platte River Compact. The lawsuit centers on two major claims. Nebraska argues Colorado has deprived the state of water guaranteed under the interstate compact and has interfered with Nebraska’s efforts to build a canal that would carry that water into the state.Hilgers called the dispute “one of the most important water-related issues of my lifetime.”The legal fight took a new turn after U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to hear Nebraska’s compact-related claims.Sauer wrote that “a claim that one state has deprived another of water to which it is entitled under an interstate compact is a quintessential case for this Court’s original jurisdiction.”However, Sauer was not supportive of Nebraska’s argument that Colorado is blocking construction of the canal itself. In the brief, he described that portion of the dispute as “unripe,” saying Nebraska has only recently begun seeking permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and that construction remains years away.Hilgers said the suit is still on the right course, though.”The name of the game for us is to get in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on the compact,” he said.A spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office declined to comment directly on the litigation and referred KETV to court filings.In those filings, Colorado argues Nebraska has not shown the state is actively obstructing construction of the canal.Hilgers said planning and permitting work for the canal project is ongoing.”Getting a final canal built in the final location, size of the canal, cannot be completed until all of the legal disputes are resolved,” he said.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
Nebraska officials are looking to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide a legal battle with Colorado over water rights tied to the South Platte River and the proposed Perkins County Canal project.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said this week he expects the court to decide by the end of June whether it will hear Nebraska’s claims that Colorado is withholding water promised under a century-old interstate agreement. U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer advised the court to take that up in a brief this week.
“The Supreme Court will give us our next step,” Hilgers said. “Ideally, we get everything in front of the United States Supreme Court. If we do, then we’ll have a vehicle to resolve all of our questions in one forum.”
Nebraska has already committed more than $600 million toward the Perkins County Canal project, which supporters say would help the state access water promised under the 1923 South Platte River Compact.
The lawsuit centers on two major claims. Nebraska argues Colorado has deprived the state of water guaranteed under the interstate compact and has interfered with Nebraska’s efforts to build a canal that would carry that water into the state.
Hilgers called the dispute “one of the most important water-related issues of my lifetime.”
The legal fight took a new turn after U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to hear Nebraska’s compact-related claims.
Sauer wrote that “a claim that one state has deprived another of water to which it is entitled under an interstate compact is a quintessential case for this Court’s original jurisdiction.”
However, Sauer was not supportive of Nebraska’s argument that Colorado is blocking construction of the canal itself. In the brief, he described that portion of the dispute as “unripe,” saying Nebraska has only recently begun seeking permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and that construction remains years away.
Hilgers said the suit is still on the right course, though.
“The name of the game for us is to get in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on the compact,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office declined to comment directly on the litigation and referred KETV to court filings.
In those filings, Colorado argues Nebraska has not shown the state is actively obstructing construction of the canal.
Hilgers said planning and permitting work for the canal project is ongoing.
“Getting a final canal built in the final location, size of the canal, cannot be completed until all of the legal disputes are resolved,” he said.
Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.
NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |