Dave Domina of Domina Law Group is representing a group of Nebraska irrigators in a lawsuit against the state of Nebraska over crop losses.
Domina Law Group is representing a class of Nebraska irrigators in a lawsuit against the state over 2013 crop losses. The plaintiffs claim that they suffered monetary damages on corn, soybean, wheat, and alfalfa crops when Nebraska siphoned off their water to Kansas per the Republican River Compact.
The Republican River Compact does require Nebraska to direct river water to Kansas, but the plaintiffs claim that this does not take away the state's responsibility to pay for crops lost as a result. The compact was signed over 70 years ago, and allots 49 percent of the Republican River's water to Nebraska, 40 percent to Kansas, and 11 percent to Colorado.
This lawsuit does not contend that the state of Nebraska does not have authority to siphon off some of the river's water to Kansas. Instead, it claims that farmers who suffered crop losses as a result of the water loss should be compensated. Domina Law Group filed the lawsuit last week in Furnas County District Court.