In Re the Adjudication of the Existing Water Rights of Clark Fork River

This appeal arises from an order of the Water Court. The Water Court found that co-appellant City of Deer Lodge, predecessor in interest to co-appellants Evered and Ramona McQueary, abandoned through nonuse two water right claims in Cottonwood Creek, a tributary of the Clark Fork River. The Water Court ordered that the two water right claims shall not appear in the Preliminary or Final Decrees of the Clark Fork River Basin above the Blackfoot River (Basin 76G). We affirm.

The issue on appeal is whether the Water Court erred in finding that Deer Lodge abandoned the two water rights in…