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Where are quantified water numbers?

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Editor,

For Alan Mikkelsen and his attempts to stifle truth with sort-of truths or not-quite truths. An excerpt from Vol. 10, No. 1 (February 2003) of the FJBC Newsletter, titled: “The Watermaster.” Remember, pay attention to the dates.

“Reserved Water Rights, Quantification: In November 2001, the CSKT presented to the state a proposal for quantifying their water.  They asked the state to grant that the tribes own all the water on and around the reservation. They also want to administer the use of all the water (to be able to say who can use it).

“This is in direct conflict with the Montana Law, its Constitution and all federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court has clearly given the states the responsibility to determine how much water was reserved for Indians on the reservations within their borders.

“The tribes have refused to drop their proposal and allow negotiations to continue. They claim the state just needs to recognize that the tribes actually own all the water, then it can have a deal. If the state will do so, the tribes will allow needy applicants to obtain water use licenses that the tribes can revoke whenever they want to. These are revocable permits. When the state couldn’t do that at the December 2002 session, the tribes declared that they alone will quantify the water rights on the reservation. They said it may take them two years to do it.”

So, Mr. Mikkelsen, the tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation never claimed they own all the water on the rez? The current water compact is not based on the tribes owning all the water and then metering it back out to all the non-tribal users? All six previously negotiated and compacted federal reserved water rights for Indian reservations in the state of Montana have quantification numbers right up front; where are the quantified numbers for this seventh and final compact? We’ve read the 1,100-plus pages and there is no number. This is a carefully orchestrated cover-up by denial.

Marsha Straus

Ronan

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