THE WESTERNER

Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

MT ranchers go to court to end well exemptions

Montana ranchers are asking a state court to review a Department of Natural Resources and Conservation ruling that said homes built in rural areas can be exempted from water permit rules. Four ranchers and a conservation group, the Clark Fork Coalition, were named in the lawsuit. It was filed Tuesday in Lewis and Clark County, and says the DNRC was wrong to uphold well exemptions in an August decision. More than 70,000 permit exemptions have been granted in recent decades, allowing developers to drill wells despite senior rights held by other water users...more

1 comment:

Brett said...: Funny how we have endless stories on how much water ag requires, but there is always plenty of water for their precious subdivisions, isn't it? You know, if I were cynical, I might say we should follow the money. Hey, wait a minute...; 9:58 AM