CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — An official presiding over an interstate water rights lawsuit pending before the U.S. Supreme Court recommends denying most of Montana's claims that Wyoming failed to deliver enough water on the Tongue River.

Special Master Barton Thompson Jr. on Monday released his proposed decision in a lawsuit Montana filed against Wyoming in 2007.

Montana claims Wyoming has taken too much from the Yellowstone River tributary.

Montana had claimed Wyoming shorted Montana farmers about 10,000 acre feet of water over the last decade. An acre foot is the amount of water covering an acre to a depth of 1 foot, or about 325,000 gallons.

Thompson recommends the Supreme Court find that Wyoming shorted Montana only about 1,350 acre feet of water. If the court agrees, he proposes further proceedings to calculate damages.

 

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