Legislature doesn't ratify CSKT water compact

Tribes say they might take matter to court

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe will likely take their water rights claim to court now that the Montana Legislature has turned down two bills that would have ratified an historic water compact.

Both House Bill 636, sponsored by Rep. Dan Salomon, R-Ronan, and House Bill 629, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Williams, D-Bozeman, were killed in House committees. HB629 also failed a House “blast motion” on April 3 by 51-47. It needed at least 60 votes to be brought to the floor.

Instead of ratifying the compact, the legislature approved a bill extending its adjudication to July 1, 2015, and funding an interim study to be presented to the 64th Legislature. Supporters of that measure said Senate Bill 265, sponsored by Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, would provide the Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission enough time to find another solution.

CSKT communications director Rob McDonald said the legislature’s failure to ratify an agreement that the commission spent decades negotiating leaves the tribes with no choice but to take legal action. McDonald said such a lawsuit could involve years of litigation and harm relations between Indians and non-Indians in Western Montana.

Since its inception, the Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission has completed 15 compacts across Montana, including six with Indian reservations. The water compact between CSKT and the state and federal governments was intended to quantify water rights dating back to the 1855 Hellgate Treaty and establish ways to manage those water rights. Both the Montana Legislature and Congress needed to ratify to agreement.

The CSKT compact also called for the state to help pay for infrastructure improvements. According to the fiscal note attached to House Bill 629, the state would sell $72 million in bonds costing more than $100 million for payments on three compacts — $55 million to CSKT, $12 million to the Blackfeet and $3 million for the Fort Belknap Reservation.

Ever since the CSKT compact became available for public review last year, it has encountered strong opposition from ranchers on the Flathead Reservation and others. Scores of opponents turned out for a two-hour hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on March 27.

While water-users on the reservation claimed they wouldn’t get enough water to irrigate their land, supporters of the compact blamed a lot of the opposition on misinformation — even hysteria.

Supporters noted that while the compact would give CSKT rights to 229,383 acre-feet of water in the Flathead River system and 90,000 acre-feet of water in the Hungry Horse Reservoir, the Flathead River averages about 7 million acre-feet, and the reservoir holds about 3.5 million acre-feet.

To further complicate matters, Lake County District Judge C.B. McNeil ruled in favor of irrigators opposed to the agreement on Feb. 15. McNeil said the agreement would violate their constitutional rights by taking their private property rights without just compensation.

McNeil’s decision was appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. The high court vacated McNeil’s ruling without an explanation, saying they would offer an explanation later.