State should pay farmers now for water already delivered

It may take years to settle the Republican River conflict, but farmers who were promised money for water they didn't use last year don't have years.

High corn prices and an easing of the drought have taken some of the pressure off, but there are loans to repay and seed, fuel, fertilizer and chemicals to buy for next year's crop.

Farmers are owed nearly $9 million for sending water to Kansas last year instead of irrigating crops, part of an effort to comply with the Republican River Compact.

The problem is, the money is to be partially paid through property taxes on everyone in the Republican River basin, something that doesn't sit well with a group called "Friends of the River," which contends that system violates a constitutional prohibition of levying property taxes for state purposes.

A trial is scheduled later this month, but meanwhile, Kansas is threatening to sue over the original water shortages, rendering Nebraska's efforts moot, anyway.

Sen. Mark Christensen is proposing the use of $9 million of the state's projected $540 million cash reserve to give the farmers what they are owed. He's not asking for extra money; the $9 million would be deducted from money the state was to pay into the water fund over the next few years.

Christensen doesn't think it's fair to leave the cooperating farmers on the hook. We don't, either.

The lawyers will take all the time they need to sort the mess out, but the farmers should be paid now.