TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A federal judge has ruled against the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas in its longstanding lawsuit against a water district.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia in Kansas City, Kan., further jeopardizes a reservoir project leaders of the northeast Kansas tribe say is critical for the tribe.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the tribe has lobbied for years to move the reservoir project forward and asked Gov. Sam Brownback to intervene. The tribe wants the local watershed district to use eminent domain to move the reservoir project forward, but the board has refused.
The tribe filed a lawsuit in federal court June 14, 2006.
Murguia wrote in favor of the water district, saying the agreement only stated that eminent domain could be used, not that it must be.
