Water showdown likely to simmer into April
Megan Strickland
Flathead Joint Board of Control Chairman Jerry Laskody listens to lobbyist Abigail St. Lawrence give an update regarding the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Water Compact.
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ST. IGNATIUS – A lobbyist for the Flathead Joint Board of Control told irrigation commissioners last week that she expects the ongoing battle over state approval of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Water Compact to last into April.
“It is likely the hearing will be sometime after the Easter break, although we haven’t had confirmation,” lobbyist Abigail St. Lawrence said. “It has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, so that is where we will be.”
The compact passed in the Montana Senate 32-18 in February, but the vote in the House of Representatives is expected to be much closer. The compact would settle the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ water claims and has been in negotiation for more than a decade. If the $55 million settlement does not pass, the tribes have said they will file as many as 10,000 water claims in state court. A looming June 30 deadline for filing those claims is approaching, as is the April 30 deadline for the legislature to approve the document. If approved, tribal and federal government will also have to sign off on the compact.
The board has opposed the compact because they claim that it does not do enough to protect irrigators. The board gathered with the Rocky Mountain Stockgrowers and other opponents during the February hearing to coordinate testimony. The Senate Judiciary Committee allotted two hours of testimony for both proponents and opponents, but at the end of that time there were dozens of people on both sides who didn’t get to testify. A request to hold the February hearing on a Saturday to allot more time for testimony was denied, because of the unprecedented nature of holding hearings on Saturdays.
Irrigator Gene Erb hoped for a longer hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“There was a handpicked delegation that was able to speak and the rest of us ran out of time,” Erb said. “I don’t want to have this happen again. If we have three days of testimony over there, I want everyone to say their piece.”
St. Lawrence said there is a chance of a Saturday hearing, but that that decision is left up to the committee chair.
“We’re pushing for a Saturday session so everyone will have a chance to have their say,” St. Lawrence said.
A separate bill, sponsored by Bob Brown of Thompson Falls, that would task the state public defender’s office with defending state-based water rights if the compact fails, also saw little movement last week. The bill was heard in the House Judiciary Committee March 6, and executive action was expected on March 16, according to St. Lawrence.
Even if it passes both chambers of the legislature, it might face a major obstacle.
“Talking to the lobbyist, they feel it is a great try, but that the governor will veto it,” board chairman Jerry Laskody said.
