Water adjudication starting in Flathead

By ALEX STRICKLAND / Bigfork Eagle

The next 18 months could be rough in DNRC Basin 76J.

In that time the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will be examining some 5,200 water rights claims in the Flathead Valley from Whitefish to the edge of the Flathead Reservation and beginning the long process of verifying and updating information.

DNRC spokesman John Grassy said that in fast growing areas like the Flathead, the process is extremely difficult because of the fast growth-rate and the subsequent subdivision of water rights.

"We'll look at the claim to see what amount is allowed and what the actual use is," he said. "We'll also verify that the property is in the location and is the size it (the claim) says it is."

Grassy said the DNRC is just wrapping up the water adjudication process in the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula. The process has gone on in that valley for eight years.

Grassy said that statewide adjudication, which has been laboring on for decades, received a final push when the 2005 Montana Legislature pushed through House Bill 22, which allowed the DNRC to up it's staff of nine claims inspectors to 40.

First, the DNRC will send a letter to each water right owner in the area to verify and update information. After the verification process, any claims, disagreements, etc., will go before a water court that will decide the outcome.

This is the stage where, Grassy said, "People lawyer up."

Once claims are in the water court the process slows down because of the legalities of the process and the suits that can arise.

"Once all the dust settles the water court issues its decree," he said. "The decree is the final accounting of water in the area and who owns it."

The claims reviews are sent out in batches so everyone in the valley won't get their notice at once.

"In areas like the Flathead, where we've seen a good deal of land use and land ownership changes, we anticipate more questions than usual about the process," said DNRC Director Mary Sexton in a news release. "Some people may not even realize they own a water right until they receive the notification letter."

The entire adjudication process is also outlined on the DNRC Web site at http://www.dnrc.mt.gov. Click on the "water" tab at the top right and then "water rights information" to view forms, standards, references and other resources.