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"We're glad the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear our case," said Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D). "Water is always one of our most valuable resources, especially in eastern Montana. Wyoming has been shortchanging us on water for decades. Now I look forward to a fair hearing."

At issue is the Yellowstone River Compact, an agreement brokered in 1950 by Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota to determine water allocation from the Tongue and Powder rivers, both of which are tributaries of the Yellowstone River. North Dakota is not involved in the litigation.

In the lawsuit, Montana, which last year appropriated $3 million to fight the case, claimed that Wyoming increased its reservoir storage by 216,000 acre-feet in the Powder Basin and 9,400 acre-feet in the Tongue Basin since the compact was agreed to. The increased water has been funneled for use as agricultural irrigation and at coalbed methane wells.

Montana is asking that Wyoming respect the terms of the compact as well as award damages incurred by the state. Montana claims it experienced severe water shortages in 2004 and 2006, a situation that carried serious consequences for Montana's agricultural and ranching businesses, among other operations.

Wyoming defends its actions, claiming that it too has suffered from the drought. In addition, Wyoming contends that Montana is seeking to maintain Wyoming's water use to pre-1950 levels, but the state argues in its brief, "the drafters [of the compact] allocated by percentages to each state the right to make post-1950 use of divertible surface water in the rivers."

With Tuesday's announcement, the Supreme Court granted Wyoming 45 days to file a motion to dismiss the case, which the state is expected to do, and granted Montana 30 days to respond to that motion.

Last month, the Office of the Solicitor General filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to accept Montana's lawsuit against Wyoming. The solicitor general's brief said, "In the view of the United States, the state of Montana's motion for leave to file a bill of complaint should be granted."