Nebraska lawmakers advanced LB 1015, a bill introduced by State Senator Mike Hilgers at the request of Governor Pete Ricketts to adopt the Perkins County Canal Project Act.
The bill would secure Nebraska’s water supply from the South Platte River under the 1923 South Platte Compact signed with Colorado. The Perkins County Canal Act would provide Nebraska water users certainty of continued water flows from the South Platte River to protect the state’s communities, businesses, agriculture, and environment.
Senator Hilgers says, “The state of Colorado has made it incredibly clear. Been very explicit. Not just with their words but with their actions and their dollars they are coming after the water, that they are legally entitled to, under this compact.”
Under the compact, Nebraska is entitled to 500 cubic feet of water per second only if a canal is built. LB 1015 protects Nebraska’s water supply by providing the Department of Natural Resources the authority to develop, construct, manage and operate the Perkins County Canal Project following the terms of the contract.
State Senator Dan Hughes supports the bill saying once this water is gone, it is gone for good and failing to pass this bill would be the same as giving our water rights away to Colorado.
State Senator John Cavanaugh is concerned there could already be established rules in place. He says, “Article 6, Section 2 of the Compact says the net future flows for the lower section of the Platte River which may remain after supplying present and future appropriations from the upper section. This an important distinction. Colorado preserved for themselves, in this compact, the right to establish future appropriations in the upper section, that would be senior to Nebraska’s claim to this canal.”
State Senator Steve Lathrop is against the bill saying this Compact has been in place for 100 years and all of a sudden there is an urgency to act. Senator Lathrop says, “What occurred to me is that what we want to do is create enough of a problem with Colorado to find out if it is worth the paper it is written on. I think Senator Cavanaugh made a great point. We may be fighting over water and the Compact says you are fighting over whatever is left after we get through using what we want in the upper part of this water stream. I would kind of like to know about it before we dig a ditch all the way from this town in Colorado to Perkins County. We haven’t event talked about what we are going to do with it once it gets to Perkins County.”