Colordo Water
Colorado will not have to pay Kansas some $24 million in interest charges stemming from overuse of the water in the Arkansas River, according to the Rocky Mountain News [December 8, 2004, "Colorado wins water ruling over Kansas"]. From the article, "Colorado scored a key, $24 million legal victory Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state would not have to pay interest costs to Kansas to settle a 20-year dispute over the Arkansas River. Kansas had asked that Colorado pay a total of $53 million to cover damages suffered as a result of Colorado's overuse of the river from the 1950s to the early 1990s. History of the feud: 1900s - Kansas accuses Colorado of drying up water supplies Kansas farmers need; 1949 - Congress passes interstate compact, dividing the water among the states; 1970 to 1985 - Kansas accuses Colorado of taking too much water; 1985 - Kansas sues Colorado; 1995 - U.S. Supreme Court rules for Kansas, saying Colorado took too much water; 2001 - Court says Colorado owes $29 million. Kansas asks for $24 million more in interest; Dec. 7, 2004 - Court says Colorado doesn't owe interest, but does owe the $29 million."
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [December 8, 2004, "State must pay Kan. $29 million"]. They write, "A tributary of the Mississippi, the Arkansas flows 1,450 miles east and southeast through Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Kansas and Colorado officials have fought for more than a century over the river's water and first took their case to the Supreme Court in 1902."
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