Article excerpts:

“The state of Colorado is threatening Nebraska's water supply from the South Platte River by making illegal water diversions and is obstructing Nebraska's efforts to build the Perkins County Canal, the state of Nebraska alleges in a lawsuit filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court has jurisdiction in disputes between states and Nebraska said in its complaint the court's intervention is needed to stop Colorado from violating the South Platte River Compact that has been in effect since 1923.

The Perkins County Canal project goes back to a drought in the 1890s when desperate western Nebraska farm families started digging out a canal from the South Platte River in Colorado with plans to irrigate their crops.

The canal needed to go about 65 miles, but the project was scrapped in 1895 after about 16 miles were dug out, according to a historical article on the project in the North Platte Telegraph. In 1923, though, Nebraska leaders made sure to insert a clause in their water compact with Colorado to keep open the option for a canal.

According to information from Nebraska Attorney General Mike Pilger's office, the two states have been negotiating the details of the canal for "many years" but Colorado officials have yet to agree on "basic things" including location and size of the canal or how much water flows through it.

"Colorado has refused to meaningfully engage Nebraska, instead consistently feigning ignorance, demanding more and different types of information, neglecting to apply adequate resources to analyze data sets and water availability scenarios, and refusing to articulate positions on issues critical to design and operation of the canal beyond those that would most obviously delay implementation of the project," Nebraska said in the lawsuit.”

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