Topeka ? Atty. Gen. Phill Kline said Thursday he wouldn’t give Nebraska a reprieve on sending water down the Republican River to Kansas farmers.

“Here in Kansas, a deal is a deal,” Kline said at a news conference.

U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., had asked Kline to reconsider implementing a water settlement because of drought conditions that occurred after the pact was negotiated.

But Kline refused, saying the drought has hit Kansas farmers as well.

David Pope, chief engineer for the Division of Water Resources in Kansas, said, “Our people aren’t getting water now. It’s important for the agreement that we get our share.”

The 1943 Kansas-Nebraska compact allocates the annual water supply in the Republican River basin, with Nebraska getting 49 percent, Kansas 40 percent and Colorado 11 percent.

In 1998, Kansas sued Nebraska, claiming Nebraskans were violating the agreement. A groundwater model was approved by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 to ensure compliance with the compact.

The first five-year compliance check is in 2007, and Nebraska already is 62,000 acre feet behind what should have gone to Kansas, officials said.