BILLINGS, Mont. - Gov. Brian Schweitzer rejected a proposed water quality agreement with Wyoming on Friday, saying it failed to protect Montana's farmers and fisheries and could have curtailed future energy development in the state.

The collapsed agreement - hashed out during months of negotiations - had called for tighter standards on some water discharged by the coal-bed methane industry. It would have covered the Tongue River, which passes from Wyoming into Montana, but excluded two of its main tributaries.

Schweitzer said that was equivalent to a homeowner putting a double lock on the front door but leaving the back door and windows wide open.

Billions of gallons of water from underground aquifers are discharged during coal-bed methane production. The discharged water is typically high in sodium and other salts, which can ruin crops and soils and harm fisheries.

"This would be a backdoor way of delivering sodium to Montana," Schweitzer said of the exclusion of the two tributaries, Hanging Woman and Badger creeks. "Effectively it all ends up in the same place: It ends up on the fields of Montana farmers and it ends up in the Tongue River."

Wyoming Gov. David Freudenthal said in a statement that he was not notified of the decision and heard about it only through a reporter. Freudenthal said negotiations over the tributaries had been ongoing, and that Wyoming was "awaiting further discussions" when Schweitzer's decision came.

"Wyoming's Department of Environmental Quality was awaiting a response from its Montana counterpart on the language to deal with the two tributaries," he said. "I guess we have our answer. Under no circumstances does Governor Schweitzer view it to his political advantage to work with us. So, we'll continue in court."