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Republican River Water Conservation District Agenda Item 26e November 10 , 2008 Page 2 of 7 Backgrou nd History of Designat ed Basin Ground Water and Republican River Compact Colorado and Nebraska began discussing a potential compact for the North Fork of the Republican River in 1934. Colorado and Nebraska added Kansas to the discussions in 1935 when di scussions expanded from the North Fork to the basin as a whole. Negotiations increased in tempo in 1936 when the Bureau of Reclamation decided that they would not build reservoirs in the Basin until there was a compact between the states. The first compac t was vetoed by President Roosevelt in 1942, but an acceptable compact was negotiated the following year. Colorado adopted the present compact in 1943. Beginning in 1959 drilling and use of wells increased dramatically in all three states. In the 1960s , Colorado began to implement restrictions on groundwater well permits when the Colorado Ground Water Commission established designated ground water basins. In 1966, the Ogallala Aquifer in the Republican River Basin in Colorado was included in the Norther n High Plains Designated Ground Water Basin (NHP Basin). In 1966, the Ogallala Aquifer in the Republican River Basin in Colorado was included in the NHP Basin . In 1967, due to a significant increase in the number of well permits issued within the NHP Bas in, Colorado ceased permitting wells in the Ogallala Aquifer in the Republican River basin that were within a three - mile radius of any high - capacity existing well, if the proposed well would cause a depletion rate greater than a forty percent decline in aq uifer water level in 25 years (Colorado extended this restriction to further protect the aquifer in 1990 by not allowing a depletion rate greater than 40 percent in the aquifer water level in 100 years). In 1970 Colorado implemented a moratorium on any alluvial aquifer wells in the Republican River basin in order to protect senior surface water rights. Since the early 1970s, Colorado has not approved any new well permits for wells in the Ogallala Aquifer located within three miles of the North Fork of t he Republican River. In 1974, the Colorado Supreme Court confirmed that the NHP Basin groundwater met the definition of designated basin water in the 1965 Act when it ruled that ground water taking over a century to reach a surface stream was not part of t he water subject to appropriation under the Colorado Constitution and could be managed separately as designated ground water . Due to the 1974 ruling, both the State Engineer and groundwater users believed that NHP Basin withdrawals from the aquifer were n ot subject to the Republican River Compact (Compact) , which seemed limited to surface diversions that affected the flow of the Republican River. In the 1980's however, Kansas became concerned that well development in Nebraska may interfere with its abilit y to fully utilize compact entitlement. In the 1990's Kansas attempted to persuade Nebraska and Colorado to adjust the Compact accounting to reflect groundwater impacts, but there was no consensus between the states. In 1998, Kansas filed an orig inal action in the United States Supreme Court against Nebraska seeking to enforce its Republican River entitlem ents under the Compact. Nebraska filed a cross - claim against Colorado alleging it had also violated the Compact by exceeding its consumptive use .