Pass the compact
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Editor,
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Compact is in the final stage of negotiation between three parties, the CSK Tribes, the State of Montana and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The good news is there are very few points left to be determined; and the last session was Wednesday, Dec. 10 in Polson.
This scenario is a vast improvement over the 2013 Compact. Many public meetings have occurred with excellent public input. There is little excuse for not understanding the issues that have been brought up and answered since 2013. It is quite clear that failure to pass the Compact through the 2015 legislative session will lead to economic and legal uncertainty for years to come as competing claims are settled in a water court that is not at this point ready to deal with the number of claims the Tribes will file if the Compact doesn’t pass.
The legislature needs to put in its budget a significant increase in the Water Court budget if they refuse to pass the Compact.
Municipalities, state agencies, as well as individual irrigators who have water claims will have to hire attorneys to defend their claims. It has been estimated that an individual irrigator may have a legal fee as large as $5,000 per month while going through adjudication in water court.
It is time to do the obvious: pass the Compact and that will settle all the water claims on and off the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Mary Stranahan
Arlee
