Clark Fork Coalition v. Montana Wel

¶1 The Water Use Act provides a comprehensive permit based system for new appropriations of water in Montana. The Act permits certain groundwater appropriations to be exempt from the permitting process. Relevant here, § 85-2-306(3)(a)(iii), MCA, provides an exemption when a groundwater appropriation does not exceed 35 gallons per minute and 10 acre-feet per year. However, the subsection also provides an “exception]” to the exemption when a “combined appropriation” from the same source by two or more wells or developed springs exceeds 10 acre-feet per year, regardless of flow rate.

¶2 The term…