Cite as: 507 U. S. 584 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
In addition, Nebraska may be unable to prove that operation of the Deer Creek Project will cause it substantial injury. Such proof is necessary, as we have indicated, because the decree does not currently restrict Wyoming's use of Deer Creek, and a new injunction would constitute a modification of the decree. Whether the project will injure Nebraska may depend on the way it is administered.
Wyoming has conceded that the Deer Creek Project will be operated in accordance with state law and in priority with the Glendo and Guernsey Reservoirs. It has not agreed, however, to operate the project junior to the Inland Lakes, perhaps because its position throughout the litigation has been that the Inland Lakes lack a priority date. In light of our recognition today that the decree establishes a 1904 priority date for the Inland Lakes, it is unclear whether Wyoming will persist in seeking to operate the Deer Creek Project out of priority. If the project is operated junior to the Inland Lakes, the evidence of injury to Nebraska appears to be diminished. See Affidavit of H. Lee Becker ¶¶ 4-6 (Aug. 12, 1988) (demonstrating that anticipated reductions in federal reservoirs' carryover storage would be smaller if Inland Lakes' priority were recognized), attached to Nebraska's Response to Wyoming's Motion for Summary Judgment (Aug. 22, 1988); Affidavit of David G. Wilde ¶ 89(b) (Aug. 15, 1988) (stating that, although Deer Creek would "substantially impac[t]" federal projects during an extended dry period, impacts would be "minimized" if Deer Creek were administered junior to the Inland Lakes), attached to Response of United States to Wyoming's Motion for Summary Judgment (Aug. 23, 1988). But Wyoming still may assert that Paragraph X permits it to divert for municipal uses out of priority with the Inland Lakes. In that event, we think the Wilde and Becker affidavits raise a genuine issue of material fact sufficient to defeat Wyoming's summary judgment motion.
601
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