LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An agreement Kansas and Nebraska reached about managing the Republican River’s water this winter suggests more cooperation is possible in the long-running dispute.

The states signed a one-year deal last month that allows Nebraska to keep some water in Harlan County Reservoir this fall, so it will be there next spring to help farmers downstream.

Without the new agreement, the 1943 compact between Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado would have required the water to be released this fall when farmers couldn’t use it.

Disputes over the Republican River compact have landed in the U.S. Supreme Court several times because Kansas says Nebraska used too much water. Nebraska is entitled to 49 percent of the water, Kansas gets 40 percent and Colorado gets 11 percent.