Supreme Court sides with Wyoming in water skirmish

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with Wyoming farmers Monday in a water lawsuit that claimed they were taking too much water from a river system shared with neighboring Montana. The high court struck down one of four claims made by Montana in a 2007 complaint that said Wyoming was violating a 1950 agreement by depleting water from the Tongue and Powder rivers. Montana had contended that more efficient irrigation techniques in Wyoming have been sucking the rivers dry and keeping run-off from flowing downstream. But in a 7-1 decision, justices said more efficient irrigation was permissible under an agreement known as the Yellowstone Compact even if it comes at the detriment of downstream users. Left unresolved following Monday’s ruling was the broader question of whether Montana is getting its fair share from the rivers as Wyoming builds new reservoirs, the amount of water used by the oil and gas industry increases and farms expand. Attorneys now turn their attention to calculating how much water is being used — a process expected to take many months. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote Monday’s decision...more