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In court documents filed Friday, Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg argued the lawsuit should be thrown out because it was "fundamentally flawed." The lawsuit addressed the use of water across the river basins -- not just from the rivers themselves, which is what Wyoming claims the compact covers.

"We are not violating the compact," Salzburg said.

In the case of the Yellowstone compact, a 1950 agreement that allocated each state a share of water from the Yellowstone and its tributaries, Montana asserts Wyoming is storing water in reservoirs that should be delivered downstream and also allowing excessive pumping of underground water reserves that feed into the two rivers.

Salzburg said his state's construction of reservoirs had been encouraged by the compact, and he suggested Montana do the same if it wants to guard against dry periods. He also said the depletion of groundwater by energy and agricultural interests was largely outside the scope of the 1950 agreement.

"Pumping water from deep aquifers isn't within the contemplation of the compact," he said. "It simply doesn't address those things" (Matthew Brown, AP/Casper [Wyo.] Star-Tribune, April 7).

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