Nebraska all wrong on South Platte River Compact breach claims, AG Weiser says

Nebraska all wrong on South Platte River Compact breach claims, AG Weiser says

Sept. 28, 2026 (DENVER) - Colorado today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss Nebraska's baseless claims that Colorado has breached any provision of the South Platte River Compact and interfered with their efforts to build the controversial Perkins County Canal.

In briefs filed with the Supreme Court, Colorado explains it is not liable to Nebraska for any of the claims they make in their lawsuit. If anything, Nebraska owes Colorado for the water that the Cornhusker State has wrongfully taken from the South Platte River.

"Nebraska's South Platte River Compact lawsuit is wrong on the law and not based in reality. Colorado is meeting its obligations under the compact. We will defend the rights of Colorado water users, which is why we are asserting our own claims against Nebraska for using water that belongs to Colorado under the compact," Attorney General Phil Weiser said.

Colorado has not interfered in Nebraska's early efforts to pursue a canal, the brief states. After more than a century, Nebraska still has not built the Perkins County Canal, and for good reasons. The project poses significant technical and financial risks and may, in the end, yield insufficient water to make it worthwhile.

In addition, Colorado has met its summertime flow obligations. As explained in Colorado's counterclaims, Colorado's system of water administration is more protective of senior water users than Nebraska's. Nebraska allows out-of-priority well pumping on the South Platte River and its tributaries without the careful replacement of water required by Colorado's system. This well pumping improperly depletes the flow of Lodgepole Creek that is for Colorado under the compact. More well pumping near the Colorado-Nebraska border also depletes portions of the South Platte River within Colorado in violation of the compact.

Along with the state's answer and counterclaims to Nebraska's lawsuit, Colorado asks the Supreme Court to dismiss Nebraska's claim that Colorado has breached Article VIII of the compact because it uses "complex" water augmentation plans. That claim fails as a matter of law because the compact does not prohibit the use of technically detailed or complex water administration.

Read the state's motion for partial dismissal of Nebraska's bill of complaint (PDF).

Read the state's answer and counterclaims against Nebraska (PDF).

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