Attorney General Six's comments on the Arbitrators' Report in the Republican River dispute
July 01, 2009 --Yesterday the arbitrator for the Republican River Compact released his report. He found that Nebraska has not adhered to the compact and deprived Kansas of its vital water resources and that Nebraska must take additional action to comply with its obligations.
"Nebraska has failed to live up to the obligations under the compact, despite the assurances it gave to the States and the US Supreme Court," Attorney General Steve Six said. "This completes the non-binding arbitration phase. We will continue to fight to ensure Kansas farmers and communities receive the water they deserve."
The arbitrator found:
- Nebraska has deprived Kansas of its rightful share of the Republican River, and has violated a US Supreme Court decree by 78,960 acre-feet AF for the years 2005 and 2006.
- He agreed with Kansas in ruling that Nebraska's current plan for achieving compliance is inadequate; Nebraska must face and address the effects of its decades of overdevelopment through significant reductions in its use.
- He clearly rejected Nebraska's attempts to alter the long-established and agreed-upon methods of quantifying the water supplies and water uses in the Republican River Basin.
- As he was not satisfied with either state's damage calculations, the Arbitrator did not provide a final recommendation on amount of damages for 2005-2006 that should be awarded, leaving the final determination to a future proceedings. He did affirm that Kansas has suffered damages in the millions of dollars.
- Kansas will study the decision further and evaluate its options.
To view the full report: http://www.ksda.gov/interstate_water_issues/content/142