High court sides with power company over Montana dams

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has sided with a power company in a dispute with Montana over who owns the riverbeds beneath 10 dams sitting on three Montana rivers. In a case that reached back to the travels of Lewis and Clark more than 200 years ago, the court voted unanimously today to throw out a state court ruling that could have cost the company more than $50 million. The justices said the Montana Supreme Court was wrong to conclude that the state owns the riverbeds and ordered the state court to take another look at the case.