Nebraska v. Wyoming, 507 U.S. 584, 14 (1993)

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Cite as: 507 U. S. 584 (1993)

Opinion of the Court

Wyoming's right "to receive and divert . . . the remaining waters of the stream and its tributaries"). But we read that language to refer only to the waters actually apportioned in the earlier proceedings—that is, the waters down to and including Wheatland. There is also contrary language in the new Laramie decree entered on the joint motion of Wyoming and Colorado in 1957. See Wyoming v. Colorado, 353 U. S., at 953 (Wyoming "shall have the right to divert and use all water flowing and remaining in the Laramie river and its tributaries"). But the 1957 decree, entered without Nebraska's participation, cannot affect our interpretation of the 1945 North Platte decree, since Paragraph XII(d) addresses only the Laramie apportionment "heretofore made"—in other words, the 1922 decree.

Further, the Court apparently expected that some Laramie water would contribute to the natural flows available for apportionment in the pivotal reach. See, e. g., Doherty Report 67, Table III (including Laramie inflows in calculation of natural flow in pivotal reach). But the Court did not affirmatively apportion Laramie flows to Nebraska, either. The decree did not restrict Wyoming's use of the Laramie or require Wyoming regularly to deliver a specified amount of Laramie water to the North Platte confluence. Since 1945, Laramie flows that actually have reached the North Platte have been included in the equitable apportionment, but neither Nebraska nor the United States has requested that Wyoming account for diversions above the confluence. For these and other reasons given by the Special Master, we agree that the evidence, most fairly read, indicates that the Court did not decide the fate of the excess Laramie waters in 1945.

Because the North Platte decree gives Nebraska no rights to Laramie waters, affording Nebraska injunctive relief would constitute a modification of the decree. We turn, then, to the question of injury. In 1978, Nebraska entered into a settlement agreement with Basin and other parties

597

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