HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A controversial plan to divert Missouri River water from northeast Kansas to western Kansas is unlikely to happen.

Tracy Streeter, executive director of the Kansas Water Office, says the proposed aqueduct from Doniphan County to Utica in western Kansas isn’t feasible because of the estimated $18 billion cost to build it and another $1 billion to operate it every year. Streeter told The Hutchinson News Monday  that the water office has no plans to take the proposal further.

The proposal met strong resistance from northeast Kansas and Missouri officials.

However, aqueduct supporters in water-starved southwest Kansas aren’t giving up on some type of water transfer. The Southwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 3 has commissioned a $20,000 study of the economic impact if the aqueduct isn’t built.