| Litigants: | Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas |
| Arguedate: | March 30 |
| Argueyear: | 1982 |
| Decidedate: | July 2 |
| Decideyear: | 1982 |
| Fullname: | Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas, Attorney General |
| Usvol: | 458 |
| Uspage: | 941 |
| Parallelcitations: | 102 S. Ct. 3456; 73 L. Ed. 2d 1254; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 13 |
| Holding: | The Nebraska statute forbidding commercial exportation of water from Nebraska was unconstitutional in that it violated the dormant commerce clause. |
| Majority: | Stevens |
| Joinmajority: | Burger, Brennan, White, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell |
| Dissent: | Rehnquist |
| Joindissent: | O'Connor |
| Lawsapplied: | U.S. Const. Art. I § 8 |
Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas, 458 U.S. 941 (1982), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that a Nebraska statute forbidding commercial exportation of water from Nebraska was unconstitutional in that it violated the dormant commerce clause.
The boundary between the states of Nebraska and Colorado passed through a farm owned by Sporhase. He drilled a well in Nebraska and used the water to irrigate his land on both sides of the boundary. Under the 11th Amendment, he could not sue the state of Nebraska in a federal district court; consequently his suit had to proceed in the state courts in Nebraska until he petitioned the United States Supreme Court to review it.