The Kansas-Nebraska Big Blue River Compact was entered into in 1971. The purpose of the Compact is to promote interstate comity, achieve equitable apportionment of the waters of the Big Blue River Basin and promote the orderly development thereof, and to encourage an active pollution abatement program in each state.
The Compact Administration is composed of a federally appointed Compact Chairman, currently W. Don Nelson of Lincoln, NE; two state appointed representatives, Earl Lewis of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources, and Tom Riley of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources; and two citizen representatives, Hannah Birge of Manhattan, KS and Larry Moore of Aurora, NE.
The Compact provides for minimum target flows to reach the Kansas state line on both the Big Blue and Little Blue Rivers, as measured by river gages at Barneston, NE on the Big Blue River and Hollenberg, KS on the Little Blue River from May through September. When streamflow falls below these target values, Nebraska is required to administer surface water rights and associated alluvial groundwater use junior to 1968 which is located within the regulatory reaches of either river until the target value is exceeded.
The Compact sets forth the following streamflow targets:
| | Big Blue River | Little Blue River |
|---|
| May | 45 cfs | 45 cfs |
| June | 45 cfs | 45 cfs |
| July | 80 cfs | 75 cfs |
| August | 90 cfs | 80 cfs |
| September | 65 cfs | 60 cfs |
Page last updated March 22, 2023.