Water rights compact out for comment

A proposed water rights compact created by negotiating teams representing the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the state of Montana and the U.S. government was released for public review and comment on Nov. 8.

Public meetings on the compact are scheduled around Western Montana. A meeting in Kalispell will take place at the Outlaw Inn Hotel on Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m.

The settlement will quantify the water rights of the Tribes both on and off the Flathead Indian Reservation. Among the elements of the proposed Compact and Ordinance:

• Protect existing valid water rights as ultimately decreed by the Montana Water Court or permitted by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

• Provide for registration of previously undocumented water uses.

• Provide additional water from the Flathead River and Hungry Horse Dam to meet the Tribes’ instream and consumptive water needs, and to provide a process to lease portions of this additional water.

Jay Weiner, an attorney with the Compact Commission, said the Hellgate Treaty of 1855 gives the Tribes a strong legal basis for asserting water rights outside the reservation. But the settlement seeks to recognize the rights of people who are already using water, including irrigators.

For more information, visit online at www.dnrc.mt.gov/rwrcc/Compacts/CKST/Default.asp or www.ckst.org/tr/nrd_waternegotiations.htm, or call Bill Schultz at 406-542-5880 or Jay Weiner at 406-444-6844.

Comments can be mailed to Chris Tweeten, Chair MT RWRCC, 2705 Spurgin Road, Building C, Missoula MT 59804 or e-mailed to dnrrwrcc@mt.gov.