The Water Information Program

Gov. Brian Schweitzer has rejected a proposed water quality agreement with Wyoming, saying it failed to protect Montana's farmers and fisheries and could have curtailed future energy development in the state. The collapsed agreement -- hashed out during months of negotiations -- had called for tighter standards on some water discharged by the coal-bed methane industry. It would have covered the Tongue River, which passes from Wyoming into Montana, but excluded two of its main tributaries. Schweitzer said that was equivalent to a homeowner putting a double lock on the front door but leaving the back door and windows wide open. Billions of gallons of water from aquifers are discharged during coal-bed methane production. The discharged water is typically high in sodium and other salts, which can ruin crops and soils and harm fisheries. "This would be a backdoor way of delivering sodium to Montana," Schweitzer said of the exclusion of the two tributaries, Hanging Woman and Badger creeks. "Effectively it all ends up in the same place: It ends up on the fields of Montana farmers and it ends up in the Tongue River." The decision sends the dispute between the states back to U.S. District Court in Wyoming. That leaves Montana exposed to the possibility the court could impose weaker water quality rules than the ones rejected.

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