May 23, 2008--Nebraska eyes pipeline for water transfer to Kansas (Denver Post)
Nebraska water officials are moving ahead with a detailed study of a pipeline that would dump groundwater into the Republican River for use by Kansas. The state and natural resources districts in the Republican basin together may spend roughly $950,000 on the second phase of a study to design the pipeline that could be built somewhere between Harlan County Lake and Guide Rock, near the Kansas border. Supporters say the pipeline could help Nebraska get into compliance with the three-state river compact that dictates how much Republican River water Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado can use. Nebraska has overused its allotment of river water in recent years, and Kansas officials have demanded more than $72 million in damages and a shutdown of wells that irrigate nearly half of the 1.2 million acres in Nebraska's portion of the river basin. The two sides have been unable to resolve their dispute, and the issue is likely headed to arbitration.
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