Supreme Court hears Colo., Kansas arguments

DENVER • The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether Colorado should have to pay Kansas millions of dollars in legal fees in an old water dispute.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers represented the state during oral arguments in the case on Monday.

Kansas wants Colorado to pay $9.2 million to cover the cost of expert witnesses called to testify by a special master appointed to oversee the 1985 lawsuit.

Kansas successfully argued that upstream wells in Colorado were pumping water that legally belonged to Kansas under the 60-year-old Arkansas River Compact.

The high court ruled in favor of Kansas in 1995, and Colorado paid Kansas $34.6 million in 2005 for overpumping. But Kansas argues the $1.1 million Colorado paid in court costs is not enough.