NEBRASKA REPUBLICAN RIVER BASIN COLORADO KANSAS 100 miles
A glance at the map shows that the drainage basin of the Republican
River occupies portions of Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas. A significant
part of the basin is considered semiarid. In 1943, the three states
made a legal agreement regarding sharing the river’s water. In 1998,
Kansas went to court to force farmers in southern Nebraska to substantially
reduce the amount of groundwater they used for irrigation.
Nebraska officials claimed that the farmers were not taking water from
the Republican River and thus were not violating the 1943 agreement.
The court ruled in favor of Kansas.
a. Explain why the court ruled that groundwater in southern Nebraska
should be considered part of the Republican River system.
b. How might heavy irrigation in a drainage basin influence the flow of
a river?
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