Climate Change and Compact Breaches: How The Supreme Court Missed an Opportunity to Incentivize Future Interstate-Water-Compact Compliance in Kansas v. Nebraska

摘要

Recklessly gambling with Kansas's water rights to the Republican River, Nebraska used 17 percent more water than it was allocated by the interstate Republican River Compact during a drought in 2005-06. Kansas sued Nebraska for this breach of compact in the Supreme Court. While the Court ultimately found that Nebraska breached the Republican River Compact, the remedy was only damages for Kansas's loss and partial disgorgement of Nebraska's profits. By failing to require complete disgorgement of profits, the Court arguably failed to disincentivize future breaches of other interstate water compacts.