Four Nebraska farmers are demanding compensation from the state because it diverted irrigation water away from their crops to comply with the Republican River Compact.

The farmers allege in a lawsuit that their yields were lower last year because they were denied access to water that could have been stored in nearby dams and canals. Nebraska released the water downstream to Kansas to meet its obligations under the 1943 river compact.

Dave Domina, an attorney for the farmers, said Nebraska is placing a statewide obligation on the backs of those farmers without reimbursing them for their losses. The farmers agree that the state has the authority to divert the water, but they contend that the state is obligated to pay them just as it would be if it seized land to build a road, he said Monday.

The farmers are seeking class-action status, which would increase the number of plaintiffs to more than 150 who receive water through the Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District.

"They couldn't get the water they were entitled to," Domina said.

The amount they're seeking is based on the difference between the corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa that they could have produced with the water and what they actually did, Domina said. The total losses haven't been counted but are expected to cost tens of millions, he said.

Source - http://www.westport-news.com/