Lawmakers voted 46-0 for a bill (LB907) that would provide more intensive supervised release to inmates released from prison, among other things. Supervised release is imposed by a court and uses structured monitoring to help inmates adjust to life outside. It must be completed in addition to a prison sentence.

Traditionally, parole is release from prison with some supervision after part of a sentence is served. And many people "jam out," meaning they are pretty much on their own when they're released.

The reform effort is being led by Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who has said repeatedly the state sends too many people to prison who don't need to be there.

The state is working with the Council of State Governments, the national leader in prison system reform. The council sent a team to Nebraska late last year at no cost to examine the system here, talk with criminal justice professionals and meet with an ad-hoc committee led by Ashford.

The council is leading a national movement called justice reinvestment aimed at reducing the prison population through measures including enhanced probation options and mental health and re-entry programs for inmates returning to their communities. So far, 18 states are using the program.

Lawmakers also approved 47-0 another prison reform bill (LB999) that focuses on helping inmates successfully re-enter the community when they leave prison. The bill will set up a system to treat inmates with mental health issues and drug and alcohol addiction. It also would create a 200-bed treatment facility at the former Hastings Regional Center.

The state's nine prisons have room for 3,175 inmates but hold about 4,900, which is 155 percent of capacity. The population is projected to hit 188 percent by 2020 unless changes are made. Reaching 140 percent of capacity triggers a report to the governor, who can declare an emergency, but Heineman has not done so. That level also can be a benchmark federal judges use to order construction of new cells.

The water bill (LB1098), by Sen. Tom Carlson of Holdrege, passed on a 48-0 vote.

It awards some $32 million over the next two years for projects to help conserve water during wet years to sustain stream flows and recharge aquifers during droughts.

Late last year, a task force created by the Legislature recommended a mix of taxes to raise $50 million a year to help sustain the state's water resources. The 34-member task force said that while Nebraska is endowed with extraordinary water resources that fuel a thriving agricultural economy, the state stands at a critical juncture with water issues.

A key part of the state's water supply is the massive Ogallala Aquifer, which runs beneath eight states, including most of Nebraska, and is a source of irrigation and drinking water for millions.

And as much of the state has suffered a lingering drought in recent years, Nebraska has tried to comply with a 1943 agreement with Colorado and Kansas over water use in the Republican River basin.

The river, formed by the confluence of three smaller streams that originate in the high plains of northeast Colorado, flows generally eastward into and along the southern border of Nebraska into Kansas. There, it joins the Smoky Hill River and forms the Kansas River.

The 1943 agreement allocates 49 percent of the Republican River's water to Nebraska, 40 percent to Kansas and 11 percent to Colorado. But Kansas has long accused Nebraska of allowing farmers to divert more than their legal share of the water for private use.

Kansas has said Nebraska has allowed the proliferation and use of thousands of wells hydraulically connected to the Republican River and its tributaries, thus depleting the river's flow. That has led to two lawsuits involving Kansas and Nebraska, including one which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.