Flathead Joint Board of Control hires lobbyist
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ST. IGNATIUS – The Flathead Joint Board of Control on Dec. 9 hired a lobbyist who will represent its interests in the upcoming legislative session, although board members declined to define exactly what those interests are.
Helena-based attorney Abigail St. Lawrence has an extensive background in water-related litigation and lobbying, board members said. The board consists of commissioners representing irrigators who utilize the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project. St. Lawrence will likely be representing the board in regards to a position on the proposed Confederated Salish and Kootenai Water Compact, which would spell out how much water irrigators receive in the future.
“I have worked for the past four sessions lobbying for the Montana Association of Realtors,” Lawrence said. “I’ve worked with them primarily on water issues. I have a few other clients I’ve worked with on some unrelated issues — child abuse issues and some professional permitting for the Montana Speech Language Pathologists. Working on a variety of issues like that has allowed me to develop relationships with legislators across the board.”
Irrigation Commissioner Jerry Laskody was optimistic about working with St. Lawrence.
“I’m pretty impressed with her background and the fact that she has a background as a water rights attorney,” Laskody said. “She’s spent a lot of time prepping for this meeting and seemed to be pretty much — not totally — up to speed on what our compact concerns are. She gave us a good run down on how she expects to operate.”
St. Lawrence will be paid $225 per hour for the month of December and $15,000 each month of the legislative session, for a projected grand total fee of $75,000.
Irrigator Susan Lake asked commissioners what the board will get for their funds.
“I think if you are going to be lobbying against the compact, that you would ask the irrigators if that’s what they really want: if they want litigation or if they want the compact,” Lake said. “Fifteen thousand dollars a month is a lot of money for the board’s interests, if you could lay out what they are. It’s been a long time since you asked the opinion of a majority of irrigators.”
Board member Ted Hein said there might be some sort of way of gauging irrigator interests in the future, but gave no further details in the matter.
“We’re going to pursue the interests of the majority of the board,” Hein said.
The board issued a position statement a couple of months ago asking for three specific additions to the water compact. Two of those concerns regarding the verification of water delivery to irrigators and the providing a legal right to the water have been somewhat discussed in negotiations that wrapped up Dec. 10, though the outcome wasn’t what the commissioners spelled out as what was desired in the position statement. The third concern, regarding the formulation of a unitary management board that would be tasked with handling some future water issues on the Flathead Reservation, did not change in the course of renegotiation.
If headway has not been made by the time the legislature convenes, Water Broker Lamont Kinkade predicts St. Lawrence might be more successful at getting the attention of lawmakers.
“I may be the only one in the room familiar with Abigail’s work,” Kinkade said. “Legislators (and) the DNRC know that if Abigail is going to be reviewing it then they had better clean up their act. She’s been extremely successful in knocking down some terrible, unfortunate proposals that have been put forth … When they find out she’s testifying and is going to be speaking, generally they re-write it or withdraw it.”
The legislature convenes on Jan. 5.
