Montana - Wyoming Water Dispute

A legal clash over water rights goes to trial this week as attorneys for Montana press their case that Wyoming farmers and oil and gas companies are sucking too much water from tributaries of the Yellowstone River.

The trial comes more than six years after Montana sued its southern neighbor before the U.S. Supreme Court for supposed violations of the Yellowstone River Compact. That agreement governs water use in a basin that includes portions of Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota.   

LINK (via: The Missoulian)

Montana Water Plan

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has launched an initiative to update the state's water plan.

In this feature interview with Edward O'Brien, Michael Downey - the supervisor of the Water Planning Section in the DNRC's Water Resources Division - explains some of the initiative's fundamental goals, starting with Montana's Water Plan itself.

via: Montana Public Radio

How mining companies are polluting our nation’s waters in perpetuity

A lengthy review of government documents reveals that an estimated 17 to 27 billion gallons of polluted water will be generated by forty mines each year, every year, in perpetuity. This is equivalent to the amount of water in 2 trillion water bottles – enough to stretch from the earth to the moon and back 54 times.

LINK (via: Earthworks)

B.C.'s Cowichan River in danger of drying up, threatening salmon runs

The Cowichan River could run bone dry before the end of the month if rain doesn't start falling by the bucketful, raising concerns for environmentalists, municipal officials and representatives of the nearby paper mill.

The record-breaking drought could drastically impede spawning salmon runs.

LINK (via:CBC News)

All fishing has been banned on the Cowichan River while officials try to rescue this year's run of chinook salmon from drought conditions.

LINK (via: Cowichan News)

Ice-off at Lower Sardine

One of my favorite places on Earth.  Kinda sounds like Han Solo's blaster gun, no?

Pipe Dreams: Water Supply and Pipeline Projects in the West

Some light reading for your Sunday.

The NRDC’s has put out a new paper on proposed western water pipelines, one of the conclusions? The number of such proposals in the Colorado River Basin.