SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

No. 137, Orig.

STATE OF MONTANA, PLAINTIFF v. STATE OF

WYOMING AND STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

ON EXCEPTIONS TO THE REPORT OF THE SPECIAL MASTER

[May 2, 2011]

JUSTICE SCALIA, dissenting.

Thanks to improved irrigation techniques, Wyoming’s

farmers and cattlemen appear to consume more of the

water they divert from the Yellowstone River and its

tributaries today than they did 60 years ago—that is to

say, less of the diverted water ultimately finds its way

back into the Yellowstone. The Court interprets the Yellowstone River Compact (Compact), see Act of Oct. 30,

1951, ch. 629, 65 Stat. 663, to grant those Wyomans* the right to increase their consumption so long as they do not

increase the volume of water they diverted beyond pre-

1950 levels. . . .

* The dictionary-approved term is “Wyomingite,” which is also the

name of a type of lava, see Webster’s New International Dictionary

2961 (2d ed. 1957). I believe the people of Wyoming deserve better.