Court appointee takes on states' water fight The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday assigned a California lawyer as special master to sort out the facts in a dispute between Montana and Wyoming over waters in the Tongue and Powder rivers. Both rivers rise in the mountains of Wyoming and flow across the state line into Montana. In a lawsuit filed before the court in January 2007, Montana alleged that Wyoming is taking more than its share of water under terms of the 1951 Yellowstone River Compact. Montana Attorney Mike McGrath said Monday that he felt good about the Supreme Court's decision. "It demonstrates that the court is moving forward with the process," he said. "They could have ordered it dismissed." Wyoming had filed a motion with the court to dismiss the case. That motion will now be taken up by the special master. Named special master was Barton H. Thompson. He is a professor of natural resources law at Stanford University and serves as director of the law school's Woods Institute for the Environment....