Irrigation administrative fees almost double
Megan Strickland
Flathead Joint Board of Control attorney Jon Metropolous listens to irrigator concerns about the board’s increasing litigation costs.
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RONAN – Members of the Flathead Joint Board of Control nearly doubled the administrative assessments of irrigators last week, saying the increase was necessary to build a war chest to fund specialized legal services required in several lawsuits the board is pursuing, and potential action in regards to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Water Compact.
The administrative fee was increased to $5 per irrigated acre, from $2.65 per acre last year. The assessment was just less than the $5.30 cap that would have resulted from a 100-percent hike. The increase will raise more than $500,000.
“We’ve heard the statement, ‘If you want peace, prepare for war,’” Flathead representative Boone Cole said. “We all want an agreement. We want peace, but I think it’s been made pretty clear that the only way we’ll be negotiated with is if we’re pressuring our potential negotiating partners. I think the message has to be sent that we’re not going to take a bad agreement. We know that our potential negotiating partners have been amassing tremendous war chests.”
Cole said he believes increasing the taxes and “lawyering up” will help get the board a spot at the water compact negotiations table. Narrow negotiation of the water compact will take place this summer. The board lost its place in negotiations of the water compact after the previous board fell apart last summer. The board reformed in April, but did not regain its power as a negotiating body.
“I don’t know how many times members of this board have said ‘We’ve got to have an agreement and that we can’t afford to fight it,’” Cole said. “You have zero negotiating clout when you make that statement or if that is in the back of your mind. You are in the same position Japan was after World War II, accepting unconditional surrender.”
Board member Shane Orien echoed Cole’s sentiments.
“I want it to be clear that I’m against any raises in O&M, or admin, but it is go time,” Orien said. “We’ve got to do it.”
Board member Tim Orr said he believes funding legal resources is pivotal.
“This is a fight for our rights,” Orr said. “It’s a fight for our future. It’s a fight for our children and our grandchildren. What happens here is going to spread like wildfire.”
Compact supporter and irrigator Susan Lake told the board she is worried that litigation will be unsuccessful, costly, and tear apart the social fabric of the reservation.
“I really think negotiation is a lot smarter way to go,” Lake said.
Three attorneys from the Gough, Shanahan, Johnson & Waterman firm have joined the board’s staff attorney Jon Metropolous in handling negotiation and the handful of lawsuits that have been spurred by the compact’s proposal. The lawyers, who charge up to $190 per hour, have specialized skills Metropolous said will help him meet critical deadlines this summer. The attorneys introduced themselves to the board last week.
Metropolous said he has been instructed to seek a negotiated settlement that is more favorable to the irrigation districts than previously presented.
Some members of the public expressed concern that the team assembled by Metropolous might not be enough to win the board’s many cases. Michael Gale gave the board a list of attorneys that are fighting tribal water rights in other parts of the country.
“We went out and found a neurosurgeon for the brain tumor, instead of letting a general practitioner handle it,” Gale said.
The board said they would review Gale’s proposal.
