Court Calls for Solicitor General's Views in Nebraska's South Platte River Compact Suit Against Colorado

The Supreme Court has signaled serious interest in an original jurisdiction dispute over Western water rights, inviting the Solicitor General to weigh in on Nebraska v. Colorado—a fight over the century-old South Platte River Compact.

Nebraska filed its motion for leave in July 2025, alleging that Colorado is breaching the South Platte River Compact—a 1923 agreement ratified by Congress in 1926. The Compact guarantees Nebraska a priority right to 120 cubic feet per second at the state line during the April–October irrigation season. Nebraska contends that Colorado’s “augmentation plans” allow junior water users to divert water out of priority, shortchanging downstream farmers. The Compact also entitles Nebraska to divert up to 500 cfs during the non-irrigation season—but only if it builds the Perkins County Canal. After decades of dormancy, Nebraska appropriated funds in 2023 and began federal permitting in late 2025. Nebraska alleges Colorado has actively obstructed the project.

Colorado’s brief in opposition, filed by Sarah Anne Krakoff of the Colorado Department of Law, argued the claims are “unripe and premature.” Justin Dale Lavene of the Nebraska Department of Justice filed a reply, and the motion was distributed for the November 14 conference.

Three days later, the Court issued a CVSG—inviting the Solicitor General to express the views of the United States. A CVSG at the motion-for-leave stage suggests the Justices see the dispute as substantial enough to warrant the federal government’s input before deciding whether to exercise jurisdiction. The federal role in original jurisdiction water disputes has been a recurring flashpoint—most recently in Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, No. 141, Orig., where the Court’s 2024 decision held that a consent decree could not dispose of federal compact interests without the government’s agreement. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser disclosed in January that his team was meeting with the Solicitor General’s office.

The SG’s brief will likely prove pivotal to whether the Court takes up this dispute or sends Nebraska to seek relief elsewhere.