A Nebraska lawmaker has asked the state to forgive a $9 million loan that helped pay farmers in the Republican River basin for sending some of their irrigation water to Kansas in 2007. State Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial introduced the bill on Wednesday. The water was sent to Kansas to help Nebraska comply with a compact that guides use of the river.

Nebraska water officials are moving ahead with a detailed study of a pipeline that would dump groundwater into the Republican River for use by Kansas.

A complex water trade has been set in motion to ensure Kansas that it gets deliveries of water owed by Colorado under the Arkansas River Compact. At a May 1 meeting, the Arkansas River Compact Administration determined Colorado owes Kansas more than 3,000 acre-feet to satisfy obligations dating back to 1996 and gain acceptance by Kansas of the accounting for the years since then.

Kansas is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to increase what Colorado must pay it for legal costs stemming from a lawsuit over use of the Arkansas River.

The federal government may be too confident in its assumption that there’s enough water to accommodate oil shale development, the Colorado River Water Conservation District believes. The Glenwood Springs-based district has submitted comments to the BLM about its draft study on oil shale development.