Montana and Wyoming Fighting for Water

Sandy gullies and endless sage brush offer little hint of the watersports mecca once envisioned for this small town near the Montana line.

Back when the Bighorn River flowed strong out of the distant Wind River mountains, it backed up 72-miles from the Yellowtail Dam in Montana south to the outskirts of Lovell -- a man-made lake that once drew almost half a million visitors annually.

But drought has choked the Bighorn going on eight years, chopping 30 miles off Bighorn Lake in recent summers and prompting tourists to vacation elsewhere. And now a U.S. senator from Montana -- anxious to tap the reservoir to feed a downstream trout fishery -- could crush Lovell's recreational aspirations for good.

Flexing his newfound muscle as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Democrat Max Baucus has introduced legislation that could further deplete the lake. It would force the federal Bureau of Reclamation to ensure a steady flow of water out of Yellowtail Dam, drought notwithstanding.

The bill, which Lovell officials say would effectively doom Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, stakes out yet another front in the water wars breaking out across the Northern Plains.

As the worst dry spell since the 1930s shows no signs of abating, many states are squabbling with each other and federal officials.

from the AP via the NY Times