Thankful for compact session participation
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Editor,
Thank you to everyone who came to the Montana Water Stewards lunch on July 23 in Ronan. I know it was tough to leave your farms, ranches and businesses at this time of year in the middle of the day. Seeing so many people at the event shows how important the water compact is to our community.
Over 80 people participated in a learning session on the current negotiations going on between the State of Montana and the Tribes. Questions were answered. Civil discourse occurred throughout the meeting and it is the sincere hope of the Montana Water Stewards that people left with many of their questions answered.
Some of the key concerns that came up in the listening part of the meeting were:
1 - How do we heal our community? We have been torn asunder by the debate.
2 - The Flathead Joint Board of Control’s only functions seems to be suing people. The almost doubling of our administrative fees of the FJBC is impinging on our farm and ranch incomes. The FJBC does not represent my interests.
3 - Without a Compact, uncertainty will remain and uncertainty is not good for our businesses and our farms.
Montana Water Stewards realizes that the Water Use Agreement within the Compact is still a work in progress. It is our hope that the Tribes and the State can come up with an equitable negotiated settlement that will satisfy as many people on the Reservation as possible.
Mary Stranahan
Arlee
