City of Helena v. Community of Rimini, 2017 MT 145 (June 13, 2017) (Wheat, J.; Rice, J., dissenting) (4-3, aff’d & rev’d)
Issue: (1) Whether § 85-2-227(4), MCA, is impermissibly retroactive as applied to Helena’s water rights claim; (2) whether the Water Court erred in reinstating 7.35 cfs of Helena’s Tenmile Creek water rights; (3) whether the Water Court erred in finding Helena had abandoned .6 cfs of its Tenmile Creek water rights; and (4) whether the Water Court erred in imposing specific place of use restrictions on Helena’s decreed Tenmile Creek water rights.
Short Answer: (1) No; (2) no; (3) yes; and (4)
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded
Facts: This case is on appeal for the second time, and involves two water rights claims filed by the city of Helena for waters of Tenmile Creek.…