By Nate Jenkins
    Associated Press Writer
    ■ Special NRD meeting tonight to address allocation and IMP. PAGE 1.
     KEARNEY (AP)-Nebraska may still wind up in court for using more Republican River water than allowed, but the state is building a case that it shouldn't be punished with millions of dollars in damages or be forced to shut down irrigation wells.
     Gov. Dave Heineman told water officials from across the state Monday there is a very good chance the Republican basin will be below its water use cap next year, under a three-state compact that includes Kansas and Colorado.
     Data shows Nebraska will be under the cap this year-but with a caveat. A key portion of the basin near Kansas may be over its allocation under a measure of use during water-short years, which this year is.
     But Ann Bleed, the state's top water official, said that being under the cap basinwide this year and next could be an important sign to both Kansas and possibly the courts that Nebraska is taking steps toward compliance.
     This year would be the first time since a 2002 settlement with Kansas that Nebraska didn't exceed its limit.
     "The significance is that we have made steps that are improving the situation," Bleed said.
     Kansas officials estimate that farmers and others in Colorado and Nebraska took 61 billion gallons of water more than they were due from 2003 through 2006. That's enough to irrigate up to 70,000 acres of Kansas corn each of those four years.
     The compact, signed in 1943, allocates 49 percent of the river's water to Nebraska, 40 percent to Kansas and 11 percent to Colorado.
     Kansas contends Nebraska took nearly 47 billion gallons of water more than it was due from 2003 to 2006. Nebraska officials say that figure is too high.
     Overall compliance with the compact is not measured year-to-year, but instead is measured based on average use over a five-year period. And during water-short years, compliance is also measured on average use over a two-year period.
     A final decision that Nebraska was noncompliant under both measures is expected next year, positioning Kansas for possible legal action against the state.
     Heineman sent a message to Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison: "Be a good neighbor. Work with us, not against us. We are making progress."
     During a meeting of the Republican River Compact Administration last month, Morrison criticized Nebraskans for not doing enough to stay within its water use limits and said Kansas would act quickly and decisively to try to force Nebraska and Colorado to cut water use.
     Morrison was not immediately available to comment Monday.
     Heineman has urged less groundwater pumping. But Nebraska's efforts to send Kansas more water have mainly focused on buying surface water to send to its southern neighbor.
     Boards of the resources districts are considering water allocations for irrigators that are at or near what they have been in the past. The Upper Republican Natural Resources District, for example, is considering leaving its allocation at 13 1/2 inches per acre, despite calls for less groundwater use.
     Actual water use averages are less than that, averaging about 12 inches, said Jasper Fanning, general manager of the Upper Republican Natural Resources District. The district is proposing to reduce water use with a five percent cut in the number of irrigated acres.