590
Opinion of the Court
we adopt it. The Master also recommended that the Court grant summary judgment to Nebraska and the United States on the Inland Lakes issue, grant partial summary judgment to Nebraska on a discrete question related to the below Tri-State issues, and deny summary judgment on the remaining issues. Exceptions have been filed by Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and amicus Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin). The United States has filed a brief opposing the exceptions. We agree with the Master's recommended dispositions of the summary judgment motions and accordingly overrule the exceptions.
II
At the outset we consider the legal principles governing the case. The parties do not challenge the summary judgment standards applied by the Special Master. The Master correctly observed that, although not strictly applicable, Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and our precedents construing that Rule serve as useful guides. See this Court's Rule 17.2. Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 56(c). When the nonmoving party bears the burden of proof at trial, summary judgment is warranted if the nonmovant fails to "make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to [its] case." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U. S. 317, 322 (1986). In determining whether a material factual dispute exists, the Court views the evidence through the prism of the controlling legal standard. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U. S. 242, 248 (1986).
The disagreement in this case centers on the applicable legal standards. The question is whether these proceedings involve an application for enforcement of rights already recognized in the decree, or whether Nebraska seeks a modification of the decree. According to Wyoming, although the Court has jurisdiction to modify the decree under Paragraph
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