Water compact’s starting premise flawed
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Editor,
Nothing says more about a community than the additional pages it takes for the letters to the editor section. The people of this valley have magnificently regained their voices in the VJ. Kudos to Shayla Couture for expressing what we all know to be true but seem too politically correct to address - much like the old adage of never talking about religion or politics at a party.
Now back to water, the elixir of life. Besides graft, greed and corruption, what makes this seventh and last Indian reservation reserved water compact different from the previous six?
The negotiating teams decided to trash-can the legislature mandated, tried and proven negotiation procedure - for an unknown reverse tribal concept that has proven disastrous and failed miserably. Nice try – time for a do-over and use what works.
The starting flawed premise is beyond imagination: the United States federal government does not own all the water within the external boundaries of the “former” Flathead Reservation in trust for the CSKT simply because you say so. This is an “open” reservation and diminished by the homestead and allotment acts; therefore, the water rights are also diminished; nice try but no cigar. My fee-simple five acres are not ‘reservation’ land or owned in any way by the tribe or the U.S. government or I would not be paying property taxes, would I? Chew on that for awhile.
If the compact is based on this simple, single fallacy, then everything negotiated afterwards is a bald-faced lie and of no value whatsoever. At least the other six tribes and reservations understood the necessity of win-win, based their reserved water rights on truth and not lies and settled amicably. This could have followed suit and everyone would have been happy – but that is not to be. The tribal council and negotiating team have created more grief with their “grand illusion” concerning ownership than can possibly come from an honorable place or time. Their greed will drive a stake through our hearts unless it is abolished. It is they who have pitted neighbor against neighbor and they will receive all the credit due them.
Michael Gale
Ronan
