[PSM]

Better hope that there are no fires:

Tombstone, Arizona (CNN) -- There's a popular saying in the American West: Whiskey's for drinking, but water's for fighting over. This dusty little city, made famous by the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, has a dilly of a water fight on its hands.

Tombstone, population 1,400, is suing the federal government -- and it is likely to be a landmark legal battle.

Over the years, Tombstone has survived fires and floods and all manner of shiftless varmints. But now "the town too tough to die" worries it's going to run dry.

The city sits in the desert but gets most of its water from springs in the Huachuca Mountains. Some of the springs are in a wilderness area protected by the U.S. Forest Service. From the Huachucas, the water runs 26 miles east to Tombstone through one of the longest gravity-fed water systems in the country.

Tombstone's water line was damaged in last year's massive Monument fire. The city says the feds are blocking emergency repairs that are critical to its survival.

In court papers, lawyers for the federal government say there's no emergency. Instead, they contend, Tombstone is using the fire's aftermath as an excuse to "upgrade and improve" its water system.

Kathleen Nelson, the acting ranger in charge of the Coronado National Forest, says the Forest Service has been letting Tombstone do some work, as long as it complies with the 1964 Wilderness Act.

In the wilderness, Tombstone can dig with shovels, not bulldozers. The new pipe can come up the mountain on horses, not in trucks.

More: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/us/tombstone-water-fight/

Pat