Audubon lawsuit over Quivira Wildlife Refuge water dismissed

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Audubon of Kansas over water rights at the Quivira Wildlife Refuge in central Kansas. Audubon sued the U.S. Department of Interior and other federal and state agencies in January. The environmental group contended the government agencies had not protected senior water rights at the refuge. U.S. District Judge Holly Teeter ruled Audubon did not have jurisdiction to file the claim against state entities in federal court and had not identified any action that would allow it to sue the federal agencies. The lawsuit contended Quivera has a shortage of water because of groundwater pumping upstream by irrigators.