DNRC, Crazy Mountain Ranch reach agreement ahead of a scheduled court hearing

Crazy Mountain Ranch and Montana’s water-right regulator have entered into an agreement that tentatively closes the books on a short-lived lawsuit regarding a golf course under construction in the Shields Valley.

Late last week, Crazy Mountain Ranch announced that it reached an agreement with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to resolve a legal dispute about the luxury resort’s water use to keep its 18-hole golf course alive.

In an emailed statement to Montana Free Press, Crazy Mountain Ranch General Manager David Hardwick apologized for the ranch’s failure to adhere to the water-right change process. Hardwick maintained that the ranch has a right to use the water in question.

“We apologize for getting ahead of the process on the irrigation of the golf course,” Hardwick said. “With this consent decree, the DNRC is allowing us to continue to irrigate the course with purchased water while it considers our May application for a change in place of use. It’s important to know that DNRC does not dispute that CMR has only used water that it is authorized to use — this is a resolution of a dispute about where we are using that water.”

A spokesperson for the DNRC described the consent decree as a “litigation tool for judicial enforcement” that is “used to remedy the violation and ensure future compliance.” Shortly after receiving the agreement, District Court Judge Matthew Wald vacated a hearing that had been set for Monday at the Park County Courthouse. 

Asked to comment on the consent decree, a spokesperson for the DNRC underscored terms of the agreement that direct Crazy Mountain Ranch to continue pursuing the water right change process — and to cease “illegally watering the golf course” in the meanwhile. 

Crazy Mountain Ranch declined to provide details about the source and quantity of water it started purchasing earlier this month to irrigate roughly 35 acres of golf course that have already been planted with turf. 

Prior to trucking water in from other areas, Crazy Mountain Ranch had been pumping water from Rock Creek to a different drainage (Hammond Creek) to sustain its golf course. The irrigation angered downstream water-right holders, who petitioned the DNRC to step in to protect their interests and the water-right change process more generally. 

On July 11, the DNRC responded by filing a lawsuit against Crazy Mountain Ranch and two of its executives, arguing that the ranch “does not have a valid water right” to irrigate the golf course it’s building in Park County.

Public officials have confirmed that the city of Big Timber is supplying at least some of the water Crazy Mountain Ranch started bringing in on large trucks in the lawsuit’s wake. Big Timber City Councilwoman Kerri Baird told MTFP on July 22 that Crazy Mountain Ranch had been purchasing approximately 27,000 gallons of water per day, but the Livingston Enterprise reported on July 25 that Bullock Contracting in Boulder is hauling as much as 100,000 gallons per day.

While Big Timber officials maintain that the city has the legal ability to sell the water — and to suspend sales if available water runs low — Sweet Grass County residents have expressed frustration with the agreement. 

Big Timber’s public works department pulls its drinking water from the Boulder River. On July 28, the Boulder was running at 166 cubic feet per second — less than half its typical volume for this time of year.

The consent decree authorizes the DNRC to inspect Crazy Mountain Ranch’s golf course and review invoices and water delivery records to assess the ranch’s compliance with the order. It also specifies that Crazy Mountain Ranch could be fined up to $1,000 per day if it fails to comply with the terms of the agreement.