Kansas Attorney General Tells Osborne: No break on water deal

Nebraskans are all wet if they think Kansas is going to back off a deal that entitles that state to more water from the Republican River.

Congressman Tom Osborne wrote to the attorneys general of Kansas and Colorado recently, asking if they would agree to less than full implementation of a court judgment entered against Nebraska. The judgment held that Nebraska had failed to provide Kansas with its rightful share of water from the Republican.

Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline gave Nebraskan Osborne his answer Thursday.

No!

"I said a deal is a deal and we fully expect Nebraska to comply," Kline told the Associated Press. "All indications we get from Nebraska officials is they intend to comply with the agreement."

Kline told the AP he didn’t mind that Osborne, who represents Nebraska’s sprawling 3^rd District, sought a change in the deal.

"He was doing his job," Kline said. "This agreement has forced Nebraskans to reduce their water use and because of that, people up there are upset. But it's Kansas water and we intend for us to get it."

In recent public appearances, he said he didn’t think the folks in Kansas, especially farmers, would want to see the potential for a lot of farmers in Nebraska going broke. He also asked Kline to consider the problems faced farmers in southwest Nebraska who have been severely damaged by years of drought.

There are estimates that Nebraska could be required to send 100,000 acre-feet of water into the river basin by 2007. Either that,  or pay $15 million in fees and damages in 2008.

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