OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A group of Nebraska farmers who say their crops suffered because the state improperly deprived them of irrigation water from the Republican River can proceed with their lawsuit.

Attorney David Domina, who represents the group of about 150 farmers, said Tuesday that District Judge James Doyle had rejected the state’s motion to dismiss the case.

Domina says the farmers in the Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District agree the state had the authority to send the water to Kansas in 2013 to comply with the Republican River Compact.

But Domina says the farmers should have been compensated for that irrigation water the lost.

A spokeswoman for the state Attorney General said she couldn’t immediately comment on the ruling Tuesday afternoon.