'HUSK YOU!' COLORADO, NEBRASKA WAGE BORDER WATER BATTLE

UPDATE

Top Colorado officials are assailing Nebraska's request for a U.S. Supreme Court review of its plans to build a canal to divert additional water from Colorado's parched South Platte River region into western parts of the Cornhusker State.

The legal battle involves the centuries-old South Platte River Compact on the states' rights and responsibilities. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over disputes between states. 

"We refuse to sit idly by while Nebraska chases a meritless lawsuit that threatens Colorado’s precious water resources, our robust agriculture industry, and our rural communities in northeastern Colorado,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis said.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser's office said: "Nebraska appears to be using the prospect of the canal and this request for Supreme Court review as leverage to renegotiate the South Platte River Compact. Colorado will ensure that Nebraska honors the letter of the compact, just as Colorado always has."

They're talking tough in Lincoln, too "Water is the essential lifeblood of Nebraska’s economy, and it’s my goal to protect one of the state’s most important assets,” Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilger said when the Cornhusker State filed suit earlier this year. 

[Photo: Colorado Attorney General's Office]