Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts appeared in front of the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee to explain and answer questions about the plan to build a canal and divert more water from the South Platte River.

He says they are trying to head off water development plans in Colorado….

Ricketts says state agencies have reacted quickly to what Colorado in planning….

Ricketts has proposed a five hundred-million-dollar plan to build the canal and other infrastructure. He says they could start the planning as soon as the legislature approves the plan…

The State of Nebraska is acting under a nearly one hundred-year-old water compact with Colorado that allocates water in the South Platte River.