Mission Irrigation District on hunt for missing records
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
ST. IGNATIUS — Documents that could play a critical role in various lawsuits pertaining to water rights disputes on the Flathead Reservation are missing from the Mission Irrigation District’s files. Last week the district’s staff and commissioners asked people to come forward if they have any information on the whereabouts of the district’s files from the early 1980s.
“It’s a real serious situation here,” Commissioner Jerry Laskody said. “Unfortunately with these files, it hasn’t been a very controlled situation and we need to get that under control.”
The documents might contain important information about what the precedent was for filing water rights claims on the Flathead Reservation. When the state constitution was rewritten in 1972, it was determined water rights would be adjudicated, and those who held pre-1972 claims were required to file those rights by 1982.
Laskody said mass confusion ensued, as water stakeholders were unsure if they needed to file individually or if various government organizations would step in and file the claims on behalf of the stakeholders.
Filing individually was costly, according to Laskody. There was an initial cost, plus fees to maintain the claim, though many people questioned the practicality of the additional charges. There was a strong appeal to have someone else handle the hassle of filing, Laskody said.
But with many files missing, it is hard to decipher who was charged with the responsibility to file, Laskody said. Those details could prove pertinent in some of the multiple lawsuits filed recently in regards to water rights on the Flathead Reservation, according to Laskody.
The district was able to locate some paperwork in Helena that consisted of claims filed the day before the deadline in 1982, but much information remains a mystery.
The district filed an information request in summer 2013 with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to hopefully recover the documentation. There has been no response, according to the district.
Tracking down decades-old records stored by the federal government can take a while, according to regional Freedom of Information Act Specialist Michael Simpson of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
“Some are destroyed, some are kept for perpetuity,” Simpson explained. “It’s complicated.”
There is a complex set of protocol for records of different types. Some end up in the National Archive, while others are housed in warehouses in different parts of the country.
In January 2014, the district realized the extent of the missing files when the dissolution of the Flathead Board of Joint Control resulted in records being split between Mission, Flathead and Jocko irrigation districts, according to Mission District Office Manager Johanna Clark.
Clark and Laskody both stressed that no one is suspected of taking the records.
“Someone might have them and not even realize it,” Clark said.
The district intends to send letters to previous office managers and employees in an attempt to locate the files. If anyone has information about the whereabouts of files, the district can be reached at (406) 745-2090.
