Makepeace speaks on wetlands, high mountain lakes
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POLSON – In his technical report at the Oct. 26 water rights negotiation session of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, State of Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission and United States, CSKT hydrologist Seth Makepeace focused on wetlands and high mountain lakes on the Flathead Reservation as they relate to the Reserved Water Rights Compact.
Makepeace noted that the tribes would like protective water rights for existing wetlands, not the result of irrigation.
Also important are protected water rights for the Poison Oak Creek/Red Horn area that contains six wetlands. These wetlands are large and ecologically diverse, according to Makepeace, and part of the grizzly bear corridor.The tribes would like to move these over to an aboriginal, or time immemorial, water rights.
The tribes would also like to move CSKT mitigation lands, about 15,000 to 20,000 acres of land purchased with settlement resource dollars and rededicated to fish and wildlife, to protected wetland water rights.
Under active discussion by the negotiators is a proposal by the tribes to move the water rights for federal and state lands, such as the lands around Ninepipes, to the tribes. These water rights would be exclusive of the Bison Range.
There are a large number of high mountain lakes in the Mission Wilderness and the Jocko drainage, and the CSKT proposal is intended to be protective of water rights for those lakes.
“The lakes are almost exclusively surrounded by trust land. The lake would all also be aboriginal, or time immemorial, priority dates,” Makepeace explained.
Aboriginal or time immemorial water rights are for hunting and fishing rights on the Flathead Reservation for tribal members.
In the ordinance, Makepeace said, the tribes or an individual would be able to file for a permit for a protected water right for a natural wetland. There would also be an avenue to impound or divert water into a wetland or apply change of use of an existing water right.
In other business, Sen. Carol Williams, D-Missoula, a member of the Reserve Water Rights Compact Commission, commented on the issues.
Noting how difficult it was to get the extension for the compact in 2009 and mentioning new legislators and a new governor at the next legislature, Williams said, “… I just wanted to note that (the compact) is a very difficult thing. I’ve looked at the meeting schedule and the kinds of things we have outstanding. I’m concerned we might need additional meetings scheduled and need to work harder than we already are. I am very concerned about getting our agreement to the legislature in 2013 … So this is just a little 'rah-rah kind of lets-get-moving' kind of comment.”
She also said there needs to be ample opportunity for public comment on the compact.
Clayton Matt, CSKT Natural Resource Department head, told Williams the technical teams work very hard. They have developed a detailed timeline to list all the work that needs to be done.
With regard to public comment, Matt said, a public comment period was on the negotiating session agenda almost two years ago. “We are cognizant of the time frame. It is our goal to get this thing done,” Matt said.
The next session will be held Nov. 30 with no December meeting and a January meeting on Jan. 18.
