The Pew Charitable Trusts

Aug. 28, 3:00 p.m. EDT

DENVER - Republican presidential candidate John McCain's idea to renegotiate a Western water supply deal has stirred quite a bit of controversy here, but no one has quite described the issue as Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D).

"That's the dangest thing I've ever heard," Schweitzer said during a roundtable with reporters at the Democratic National Convention. "In the West, whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting and some son of a seahorse snapdragon downstream says they are going to steal your water, it's time to reach for your rifle."

McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, recently told The Pueblo Chieftain that the 1922 Colorado Water compact among seven Western states doesn't take into account increases in population and changing water needs and should be renegotiated.

"So when you got a guy from Arizona saying what we need to do is just move Colorado's water down, I don't think that's a formula for winning Colorado and Wyoming. I don't think it's going to make him any friends in Utah. I'm sure they're not going to like that message in Nevada or New Mexico," Schweitzer said.

"I'm going to bet you Barack Obama is not going to steal Colorado's water and send it downstream," he said.