STATE OF NEBRASKA, PLAINTIFF V. STATE OF WYOMING, ET AL.

   No. 108, Original

   In the Supreme Court of the United States

   October Term, 1986

   On Petition for an Order Enforcing Decree and for Injunctive Relief

   Answer of the United States

   The United States, in response to the petition of the State of
Nebraska to enforce the provisions of the Decree of October 8, 1945
(as amended on June 15, 1953) and for injunctive relief, states as to
each averment of the petition:

   1. The averments of paragraph 1 are admitted.

   2. In response to the averments of paragraph 2, the United States
avers that the Decree is an apportionment of the natural flow of the
Platte River, one which places "a restraint on the storage of water in
Pathfinder, Guernsey, Seminoe, and Alcova Reservoirs, so as to protect
the Nebraska lands served by the French Canal and the State Line
Canals" (Nebraska v. Wyoming, 325 U.S. 589, 630 (1945)) as well as
Nebraska lands served by the Interstate Canal and the Ft. Laramie
Canal (id. at 633).  Except as so averred, the United States is
without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the
truth of the averments of paragraph 2 of the petition.

   3. In response to the averments of paragraph 3(d), the United
States admits that the State of Wyoming has filed suit against it and
Department of the Interior officials to enjoin them from continued
diversion of North Platte waters in Wyoming through the Interstate
Canal for storage at the Inland Lakes of Nebraska, based on the
allegation that the United States is without Wyoming water rights and
must obtain Wyoming water rights for storage water at the Inland
Lakes.  Except as so admitted, the United States is without knowledge
or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the
averments of paragraph 3 of the petition.

   4. The averments of paragraph 4 are admitted to the extent that
they pertain to the averments of paragraph 3(d) of the petition.  The
United States is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a
belief as to the truth of the remaining averments of paragraph 4 of
the petition.

   5. The United States is without knowledge or information sufficient
to form a belief as to the truth of the averments of paragraph 5 of
the petition.

   6. The United States is without knowledge or information sufficient
to form a belief as to the truth of the averments of paragraph 6 of
the petition.

   7. The averments of paragraph 7 are conclusions of law to which no
response is required.

   8. The United States admits that the portions of the Decree of
October 8, 1945, as modified on June 15, 1953, are as quoted in
paragraph 8 of the petition.

             AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES AND ADDITIONAL AVERMENTS

   1. The United States, through the Bureau of Reclamation, operates
the North Platte Project which, inter alia, provides irrigation water
in Wyoming and Nebraska.  For project purposes, the United States
obtained water rights from the State of Wyoming to divert and store
the natural flow of the North Platte River, in part for delivery of
water to the Inland Lakes of Nebraska for irrigation of lands in
Nebraska.

   2. The operation of the North Platte Project is in accordance with
Federal reclamation law and laws authorizing appropriations for
construction of the project.  The diversion of winter water flows to
the Inland Lakes has been in effect since the inception of project
operations in 1915 and during the time of previous litigation that led
to this Court's Decree of October 8, 1945.  The diversion of winter
water flows was recognized in the accompanying decision (325 U.S. at
646, 649 n.2).  Accordingly, Wyoming is precluded and estopped from
challenging this mode of operation in this proceeding.

   3. Any modification of the decree must accommodate the contractual
rights and obligations of the United States and the North Platte
Irrigation Districts concerning management and operation of the North
Platte Project.

   4. Any modification of the decree should accommodate the habitat
requirements of migrating birds, including whooping cranes and other
threatened and endangered birds along the Platte River in Nebraska,
and at the North Platte Wildlife Refuge at the Inland Lakes.

   WHEREFORE, the United States respectfully prays that the Court
issue an order protecting the rights of the United States in the North
Platte Project and the interests of the United States in the Platte
River System, and for such other and further relief as the Court may
deem just and proper.

   Respectfully submitted.

   CHARLES FRIED

      Solicitor General

   F. HENRY HABICHT II

      Assistant Attorney General

   ANDREW F. WALCH

   JOHN E. LINDSKOLD

   PATRICIA L. WEISS

      Attorneys

   MARCH 1987