Flathead District commissioners position clarified
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It is not my nor David Lake or Paul Guenzler’s intent to remove the Flathead Irrigation District from the Flathead Joint Board of Control. We are aware of Mission Valley Irrigators lawsuit against the FJBC and on February 12, 2017 FID agenda stated, “What if MVI wins the lawsuit?” It is only recently that there has been discussion of withdrawal as an option to initiate a reorganization of the board to accurately represent the vote of the board based on acreage. It would be painful but may be the only option to break the litigious direction and defiant motions of the current board.
The Flathead District Commissioners mentioned above desire to restore the Cooperative Management Entity for the FJBC. It is not likely we will see the CME come back to the irrigators under the direction of the current board.
On July 11, 2016, the FID commissioners at a FID board meeting had concerns about the possibility the Bureau of Indian Affairs would implement a $7.50 increase on project O&M fees. It was discussed at a FID meeting that it would be more prudent for BIA to implement a partial increase and evaluate the need for additional increases.
Judge Manley ruled in December that the May 2016 elected commissioners were to be seated immediately. Jennifer Kaplan, Jocko District ran unopposed in that election and won by acclamation. The board seated David and I, and Mission Valley District commissioner Ray Swenson in January 2017 and refused to seat Jennifer until a letter from a lawyer was presented at the February meeting. David and I lost several months of being able to represent the irrigators, as the commissioners who were not reelected continued to hold our chairs at the table.
It was also at this meeting that the commissioners voted to appeal the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruling regarding the low-cost block of power for the pumps on Flathead River and the LCBP for the entire Mission Valley. Having read and studied 68 pages of FERC ruling I felt the vote to appeal was to show FERC and the tribe that the FJBC was not going to back down. What a waste of irrigators’ administration dollars. There was nothing in that ruling that indicated FJBC would win should they appeal. They were brutally beat up in that ruling. I missed the vote because I was so upset and in the end abstained. I continue to wonder why the irrigators should be paying for a lawsuit against the tribe so everyone can get lower power rates to run their business and household. Even with the lawsuit there is little chance of winning. Presently the Mission Valley has the second lowest power rates in the state of Montana because of negotiations done by Mission Valley Power and if anyone is wondering about the LCBP for the pumps it would be advantageous for them turn to page 49 of the Compact.
In 2016, FJBC assessed budget was $491,752.17. Actual amount spent was $677,800.49 and of that amount $596,691.01 was spent on litigation. What percent of that came from Flathead District irrigators? There is not fair representation of the irrigators’ dollars at the table. The board vote should be proportioned by how the commissioners are elected, equal votes for equal acres and eliminate the member at large. Right now Flathead District is paying 80 percent of the bills with 40 percent of the vote and the majority of that money is going towards litigation ... I wonder how fair is that for FID irrigators?
I have done a fair amount of research compiling a list of Flathead District 1 irrigator names and sent it out to several, attempting to find a commissioner to replace Richard Erb. I have shared my thoughts with two irrigators who put their names in the hat for that position and visited with several other irrigators. Richard supported the Compact, David Lake and I were elected because we supported the Compact and mainly I wanted a commissioner that could sit at the board table and discuss common sense solutions for the FJBC board and our irrigators.
Today some of my most recent concerns are: Would you say it is legal and right not to include the Flathead Commissioners in emails when all the other commissioners are included and a vote was taken on material most of FID commissioners never viewed? Would you say it was right when legal council gave the board direction at the last meeting about rehiring an employee who had resigned and the commissioners voted 6-5 against their advice? One more concern would be the delay in water right adjudication process for 146 FJBC water right claims and the thousands of issue remarks on those claims. DNRC has stated the process needs to be completed by June 2018; FJBC says they will have more time to get it done. Richard Erb started the process in December and a hydrologist has yet to be hired.
To withdraw from the FJBC the Flathead Irigiation District would be required to follow Montana law. The irrigators would be a part of that decision. What I am hearing from some valley wide irrigators is, “I could not do nor would I want to do what you are doing and I appreciate your being at the table, don’t give it up.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “If you see injustice and don’t do anything about it, you will never see justice.” I had high hopes of being able to make a difference and sitting down with commissioners to work through the fuels that continue to feed the FJBC. What I am hearing is we all want to work in the best interest of the irrigators, what I am seeing is a standoff and the irrigators are paying for it.
