Water compact negotiations to reopen
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FLATHEAD RESERVATION – Negotiations of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Rights Compact are set to re-open soon, according to authorities and correspondence between the Tribes and Governor Steve Bullock.
Negotiations will be tailored to strictly address the Water Use Agreement that is now void because of the dissolution of the Flathead Board of Joint Control.
“It’s very narrow,” President of the Montana Water Stewards Susan Lake said. “It’s only focused on the water use agreement.”
The agreement was separate from, but an important addendum to the compact before. After it is re-written the agreement will be integrated into the compact itself, Lake explained.
The agreement protects the rights of irrigators, she said.
The renegotiation will likely take place within the next month.
Gov. Bullock asked Tribal Chairman Ron Trahan to re-open negotiations in a March 31 letter.
“The recent dissolution of the Flathead Board of Joint Control and reassumption of the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project by the Bureau of Indian Affairs leaves the compact without the protections for FIIP irrigators that were previously negotiated as the ‘Water Use Agreement,’” Bullock wrote. “I would like to extend to the Tribes a formal invitation to reopen negotiations with the State for the purpose of resolving this issue so the legislation may be presented to the 2015 legislature.”
Bullock noted that time is of the essence in the negotiation process. The Tribes have until June 30, 2015 to file claims in the statewide adjudication process. The 2015 legislative session is the last chance for state lawmakers to OK the compact. The legislature failed to bring the compact to the floor in the 2013 legislative session.
“With renewed commitment by all parties, both to additional negotiations and to public outreach and education, I believe that we have an historic opportunity to assure recognition of Tribal water rights in a manner that protects water users and allows communities to develop and thrive both on and off the Reservation,” Bullock wrote.
In an April 17 response, Trahan said federal entities will have to be a part of the negotiations.
“Since the Bureau of Indian Affairs had reassumed operation and management of the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project, they will be a necessary party to the negotiations and signatory to the agreement,” Trahan wrote.
The state’s legislative Interim Water Policy Committee was set to discuss the negotiations on May 13 in Helena.
