The state of Montana sued Wyoming in 2007, claiming that it violated the Yellowstone River Compact of 1950 by withholding too much water for irrigation and coal bed methane production. But at the end of December, the eight-year-long U.S. Supreme court case concerning the water flows of the Tongue River was finally settled.
I talked with Wyoming Attorney General Peter Michael about how, in 2011, the Supreme Court decided the most important issue that allowed Wyoming irrigators to increase their usage of the Tongue River. And how, since then, the case has been more concerned with Montana’s responsibility for its Tongue River Reservoir. I also asked the Attorney General about some of the issues where the Special Master did conclude that Wyoming was at fault.