Nebraska Supreme Court upholds dismissal of Cappel suit against DNR

For the third time this year, the Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the district court dismissal of water suits brought by surface water users in the Republican River Basin. 

On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of a suit brought by Rod and Steve Cappel and Cappel farms collectively over the state’s closing of surface water for compact compliance.

The original suit claimed the Cappels suffered economic damage and a violation of their constitutional rights  to due process from the state’s “taking” of surface water in 2013-15. 

They also claimed excessive groundwater pumping in the basin during this period was a detriment to their surface water appropriations.

That suit was dismissed by Hitchcock County District Judge James E. Boyle, IV, in October 2016.

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