New water rights case in Court
on Feb 1, 2007 at 4:31 pm
The state of Montana asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow it to sue, directly in the Court, a lawsuit claiming that the state of Wyoming is illegally withholding waters from the Powder and Tongue Rivers. The lawsuit, an Original motion to file a bill of complaint along with a complaint, has not yet been assigned a docket number.
A news release by Montana’s Attorney General, Mike McGrath, summarizing Montana’s claims, can be found here. The lawsuit claims violations by Wyoming of stream water-sharing duties under the Yellowstone River Compact of 1950. “Wyoming signed a compact that said Montana would get its fair share of water and Wyoming has not been holdingup its end of the deal,” McGrath was quoted as saying.
The formal documents filed Thursday can be found here. The state of Wyoming will have an opportunity to respond to the complaint before the Court decides whether to allow the lawsuit to proceed. If it does, the Court is likely to appoint a Special Master to clarify the issues and recommend a decision.
Montana’s primary grievance is with Wyoming, but its lawsuit also names another Compact signatory state, North Dakota.
(Thanks to Howard Bashman of How Appealing blog for the alert to this development.)
