Montana v. Wyoming ( 2018 )


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  •                  Cite as: 583 U. S. ____ (2018)           1
    Decree
    Judgment
    SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
    STATE OF MONTANA v. STATE OF WYOMING AND
    STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
    ON BILL OF COMPLAINT
    No. 137, Orig. Decided February 20, 2018
    The Report of the Special Master is received and or-
    dered filed. The proposed judgment and decree are en-
    tered:
    JUDGMENT
    Judgment is awarded against the State of Wyoming and
    in favor of the State of Montana for violations of the Yel-
    lowstone River Compact resulting from Wyoming’s reduc-
    tion of the volume of water available in the Tongue River
    at the Stateline between Wyoming and Montana by 1300
    acre feet in 2004 and 56 acre feet in 2006. Judgment is
    awarded in the amount of $20,340, together with pre-
    judgment and post-judgment interest of seven percent
    (7%) per annum from the year of each violation until paid.
    Costs are awarded to Montana in the amount of
    $67,270.87.
    Wyoming shall pay these damages, interest, and costs in
    full not later than 90 days from the date of entry of this
    Judgment. Wyoming shall make its payment into an
    account specified by Montana to be used for improvements
    to the Tongue River Reservoir or related facilities in Mon-
    tana. Montana may distribute these funds to a state
    agency or program, a political subdivision of the State, a
    nonprofit corporation, association, and/or a charitable
    organization at the sole discretion of the Montana Attor-
    ney General in accordance with the laws of the State of
    Montana, with the express condition that the funds be
    used for improvements to the Tongue River Reservoir or
    related facilities in Montana.
    2                 MONTANA v. WYOMING
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    Except as herein provided, all claims in Montana’s Bill
    of Complaint are denied and dismissed with prejudice.
    DECREE
    A. General Provisions
    1. Article V(A) of the Yellowstone River Compact (Com-
    pact) protects pre-1950 appropriative rights to the benefi-
    cial uses of water of the Yellowstone River System in
    Montana from diversions and withdrawals of surface
    water and groundwater in Wyoming, whether for direct
    use or storage, that are not made pursuant to appropriat-
    ive rights in Wyoming existing as of January 1, 1950.
    2. Article V of the Compact, including the protections of
    Article V(A), applies to all surface waters tributary to the
    Tongue and Powder Rivers (with the exception of the
    explicit exclusions set out in Article V(E) of the Compact).
    3. Article V(A) of the Compact does not guarantee Mon-
    tana a fixed quantity or flow of water, nor does it limit
    Wyoming to the net volume of water actually consumed in
    Wyoming prior to January 1, 1950.
    4. Article V(A) of the Compact protects pre-1950 appro-
    priative rights only to the extent they are for “beneficial
    uses,” as defined in Article II(H) of the Compact, and are
    otherwise consistent with the doctrine of appropriation. In
    particular, pre-1950 rights are not protected to the extent
    they are wasteful under the doctrine of appropriation.
    5. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Decree
    or the Compact, the laws of Montana and Wyoming (in-
    cluding rules for reservoir accounting) govern the admin-
    istration and management of each State’s respective water
    rights in the implementation of Article V(A) of the Compact.
    B. Calls
    1. To protect pre-1950 appropriative rights under Ar-
    ticle V(A) of the Compact, Montana must place a call.
    Wyoming is not liable for flow or storage impacts that take
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    Decree
    place when a call is not in effect.
    2. Subject to paragraph B(3), Montana may place a call
    on the Tongue River whenever (a) a pre-1950 direct flow
    right in Montana is not receiving the water to which it is
    entitled, or (b) Montana reasonably believes, based on
    substantial evidence, that the Tongue River Reservoir
    might not fill before the end of the water year.
    3. Montana cannot place a call under Article V(A) when
    it can remedy shortages of pre-1950 appropriators in
    Montana through purely intrastate means that do not
    prejudice Montana’s other rights under the Compact.
    4. A call need not take any particular form, use any
    specific language, or be delivered by or to any particular
    official, but should be sufficient to place Wyoming on clear
    notice that Montana needs additional water to satisfy its
    pre-1950 appropriative rights.
    5. A call is effective upon receipt by Wyoming and con-
    tinues in effect until Montana notifies Wyoming that
    Montana is lifting the call.
    6. Montana shall promptly notify Wyoming that it is
    lifting a call when (a) pre-1950 direct flow rights in Mon-
    tana are receiving the water to which they are entitled,
    and (b) Montana reasonably believes, based on substantial
    evidence, that the Tongue River Reservoir will fill before
    the end of the water year. Montana may place a new call
    at a later date if the conditions of paragraph B(2) are
    again met.
    7. Upon receiving a call, Wyoming shall promptly initi-
    ate action to ensure, to the degree physically possible, that
    only pre-1950 appropriators in Wyoming are diverting or
    storing surface water and only to the degree permitted by
    their appropriative rights and this Decree. Wyoming also
    shall promptly initiate any action needed to ensure, to the
    degree physically possible, that any groundwater
    withdrawals under post-January 1, 1950 appropriative
    rights are not interfering with the continued enjoyment of
    4                  MONTANA v. WYOMING
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    pre-1950 surface rights in Montana. Wyoming shall be
    liable for diversions, storage, or withdrawals in violation
    of Article V(A) of the Compact even if it was not physically
    possible for Wyoming to prevent the diversions, storage, or
    withdrawals during a call (including depletions caused by
    groundwater withdrawals occurring before the call).
    Where it is initially not physically possible to prevent the
    storage of water in violation of Article V(A), Wyoming
    shall deliver such water to Montana as soon as it is physi-
    cally possible to do so after a request from Montana.
    C. Pre-1950 Appropriative Rights
    1. The Compact assigns the same seniority level to all
    pre-1950 water users in Montana and Wyoming. Except
    as otherwise provided in this Decree, the exercise of pre-
    1950 appropriative rights in Wyoming does not violate the
    Compact rights of pre-1950 appropriative rights in Montana.
    2. Article V(A) does not prohibit Montana or Wyoming
    from allowing a pre-1950 appropriator to conserve water
    through the adoption of improved irrigation techniques
    and then use that water to irrigate the lands to which the
    specific pre-1950 appropriative right attaches, even when
    the increased consumption interferes with pre-1950 uses
    in Montana. Article V(A) protects pre-1950 appropriators
    in Montana from the use of such conserved water in Wyo-
    ming on new lands or for new purposes. Such uses fall
    within Article V(B) of the Compact and cannot interfere
    with pre-1950 appropriative rights in Montana.
    3. Pre-1950 appropriators in Montana and Wyoming
    may change their place of use, type of use, and point of
    diversion pursuant to applicable state law, so long as any
    such changes do not injure appropriators in the other
    States as evaluated at the time of the change.
    D. Wyoming Storage Reservoirs
    1. Post-January 1, 1950 appropriators in Wyoming may
    Cite as: 583 U. S. ____ (2018)           5
    Decree
    not store water when Montana has issued a call, except as
    provided in paragraph B(7) of this Decree. Post-January
    1, 1950 appropriators in Wyoming may store water during
    periods when a call is not in effect.
    2. Water stored under post-January 1, 1950 appropriat-
    ive rights in Wyoming when a call is not in effect has been
    legally stored under the Compact and can be subsequently
    used at any time, including when pre-1950 appropriative
    rights in Montana are unsatisfied. The Compact does not
    require Wyoming to release such water to Montana in
    response to a call.
    E. Tongue River Reservoir
    1. Article V(A) protects Montana’s right to store each
    water year (October 1 to September 30) up to, but not
    more than, 72,500 acre feet of water in the Tongue River
    Reservoir, less carryover storage in excess of 6,571 acre
    feet. If the Tongue River Reservoir begins the water year
    on October 1 with over 6,571 acre feet of carryover water,
    Article V(A) protects Montana’s right to fill the Tongue
    River Reservoir to its current capacity of 79,071 acre feet.
    2. Montana must avoid wasting water in its operation of
    the Tongue River Reservoir by not permitting outflows
    during winter months that are not dictated by good engi-
    neering practices. Any wasteful outflows reduce the
    amount of water storage protected under Article V(A) for
    that water year by an equal volume.
    3. The reasonable range for winter outflows from the
    Tongue River Reservoir is 75 to 175 cubic feet per second.
    The appropriate outflow at any particular point of time
    varies within this range and depends on the specific condi-
    tions, including, but not limited to, the needs of down-
    stream appropriative water rights and risks such as ice
    jams and flooding. Montana enjoys significant discretion
    in setting the appropriate outflow within this range and in
    other reservoir operations.
    6                 MONTANA v. WYOMING
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    Curiam
    F. General Reservoir Rules
    1. Article V(A) of the Compact does not protect water
    stored exclusively for non-depletive purposes, such as
    hydroelectric generation and fish protection.
    2. Montana and Wyoming must operate and regulate
    reservoirs on the Tongue River and its tributaries in a
    fashion that is generally consistent with the appropriation
    laws and rules that govern similar reservoirs elsewhere in
    each respective State.
    G. Exchange of Information
    1. Within 30 days of the entry of this Decree, Montana
    and Wyoming each shall provide the other State with a
    list of its current surface water rights in the Tongue River
    basin, including information on which rights are pre-1950
    and which are post-January 1, 1950. Montana and Wyo-
    ming thereafter will annually inform the other State of
    any changes in these water rights, unless such infor-
    mation is publicly and readily available to the other State.
    2. If requested, Montana and Wyoming also shall pro-
    vide the other State annually with any data available in
    the ordinary course of water administration that shows
    the location and amount of groundwater pumping in the
    Tongue River and Powder River basins, except where the
    groundwater is used exclusively for domestic or stock
    water uses as defined in Article II of the Compact.
    3. Montana and Wyoming shall exchange information,
    as reasonable and appropriate, relevant to the effective
    implementation of Article V(A) of the Compact. In partic-
    ular, Wyoming in response to a call shall notify Montana
    of the actions that it intends to take and has taken in
    response to the call, and when requested, provide Mon-
    tana with reasonable assurances and documentation of
    these actions. In making a call, Montana in turn will
    notify Wyoming of any intrastate actions it has taken to
    remedy shortages of pre-1950 appropriators, and when
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    Decree
    requested, provide Wyoming with reasonable assurances
    and documentation of these actions.
    4. The Yellowstone River Compact Commission remains
    free to modify or supplement the terms of the provisions of
    paragraph G of this Decree pursuant to its authority
    under the Compact.
    H. Rights of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe
    Nothing in this Decree addresses or determines the
    water rights of any Indian Tribe or Indian reservation or
    the status of such rights under the Yellowstone River
    Compact.
    I. Retention of Jurisdiction
    Any of the parties may apply at the foot of this Decree
    for its amendment or for further relief. The Court retains
    jurisdiction to entertain such further proceedings, enter
    such orders, and issue such writs as it may from time to
    time deem necessary or desirable to give proper force and
    effect to this Decree.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 137, Orig

Judges: Decree

Filed Date: 2/20/2018

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 2/20/2018