LINCOLN- The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that some natural resource districts and a power district in the state lack legal standing to object to the proposed transfer of water from the Platte to the Republican River. The original proposal, designed to help Nebraska comply with a compact with Kansas over Republican River flows, would be the first "inter-basin transfer" of its kind in the state of Nebraska.

However, the proposed project, called the "Republican Basin High Flow Diversion Project," drew concern from several natural resource districts situated along the Platte River, as well as the Loup Public Power District. These entities argued that capturing excess flows from the Platte River could damage groundwater irrigators, hydropower production and efficiency, and the surrounding wildlife habitats. Despite this, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that these entities have no legal right to object to the compact.

This, in turn, gives Tom Riley, the director of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, ruling power over the proposed project. A spokeswoman from the department said there's currently no timetable on when he will make a decision. Anthony Shutz, a water law authority at the University of Nebraska College of Law, said that the Supreme Court ruling leaves it unclear if any entity would be granted standing to legally object to such inter-basin transfers.

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