Water pressure mounting

POLSON — Last Wednesday, about sixty members of the public crowded into a conference room at KwaTaqNuk Resort to observe – and let their voices be heard at – the latest round of water rights negotiations between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission and the United States government. A new public review draft of the three parties’ Water Rights Compact was distributed at the summit, along with an updated version of an administrative ordinance that was at the heart of the day’s talks.

Though the weather may be cooling down, the negotiation sessions are heating up with a heightened sense of urgency, as all parties involved in the discussion are scrambling to get an agreement before the state legislature in early 2013. The legislature would then need to approve the Compact prior to the “sunset date” of July 1, 2013.

“I think all parties intend to meet [the sunset date],” said CSKT attorney John Carter. “I believe that is a good faith effort by all parties… it’s just got a couple bumps in the road.”

Those “bumps in the road” are mainly focused around three points of contention that the latest draft of the agreement concedes “are still under development.”

“[First, there’s] call protection for junior state-based rights,” Carter said, referencing the push to buttress non-Tribal water claims.

Additionally, Carter says, “there is the issue of a request from the state of Montana to essentially earmark 11,000 acre-feet of water out of Hungry Horse [Reservoir] for future state water developments. There is [also] the whole issue of state contribution to settlement. Those are the three primary issues that are still under discussion.”

Off-reservation water rights along the Little Bitterroot River are also being ironed out.

Despite those temporary shortcomings, the current version of the Compact does quanitfy CSKT water rights and outlines the administration of those claims.

The document also proposes the establishment of a unitary management board, though the board’s structure is still being fine tuned at the negotiating table.

Matters are further complicated by the fact that a separate agreement concerning the management of the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project (FIIP) is still not in place, as negotiations between the Flathead Joint Board of Control (FJBC), the Tribes and the federal government are ongoing.

“[The FIIP agreement] is a significant component of the water rights compact and administrative ordinance,” said Carter, as irrigation constitutes over 90% of consumptive water use on the reservation.

Resolution of a FIIP water allocation agreement would then be appended to the comprehensive Water Rights Compact and ordinance discussed on Wednesday.

The next round of negotiations will be held at the Tribal Council Chambers in Pablo on Oct. 24. At the hearing, there will be opportunities for public comment, though citizens are reminded that “written comments are the most useful.”