Prosecuting Clean Water Act violations Against Big Sky Resort.
Cottonwood v. Big Sky Resort
Cottonwood has a jury trial against Big Sky Resort for Clean Water Act violations in November, 2025. The lawsuit alleges Big Sky over-irrigated its golf course with treated sewage and the treated sewage polluted the West Fork of the Gallatin River, which runs through the golf course.
The lawsuit seeks to protect the Gallatin River by limiting the amount of treated sewage that Big Sky can spray on its golf course. Big Sky Resort previously sprayed 116 million gallons of treated sewage on its golf course. In contrast, Cottonwood settled a Clean Water Act lawsuit against the nearby Spanish Peaks Resort in 2022 that limits the volume of treated sewage that can be sprayed on its golf course to 33.6 million gallons/year.