‘Supplemental’ water for sale
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Editor,
Appendix 9, dated Jan. 28, 2015, of the Compact states in Water Right Number “76LJ 30063812 COMPACT,” that the CSKT can divert up to 229,383 AC FT from the Flathead River, or Flathead Lake, for any purpose at any time of the year. Find it here: http://dnrc.mt.gov/rwrcc/Compacts/CSKT/2013/Appendix9FlatheadSystemCompactWater.pdf.
In the Commission’s Jan. 10, 2011 response to the Tribes’ request for this water, it was termed “supplemental” water.
The creation of the Flathead Indian Reservation implied the grant of sufficient water to meet the purpose of the reservation. That’s the amount the Compact is supposed to quantify. If this water is “supplemental” it is by definition excess to the needs of the Reservation.
Why is the Commission “supplementing” the CSKT’s other water by giving them rights to even more water currently owned by Montana for the benefit of all her citizens? Why have the CSKT been given the right to the critical economic development resource in the Flathead Basin?
The CSKT have been granted rights to consume 128,158 acre feet of that 229,383 acre feet of diverted water. They’ve also been given the right to sell (lease) it. If this water is required “to fulfill the purpose for which the reservation was established” why can the CSKT lease it to others? What is the “purpose for which the reservation was established?”
11,000 acre feet of the 128,158 is earmarked for lease to Flathead County. The CSKT can lease the other 117,158 acre feet of water to anyone on or off the reservation (but within the Flathead and Clark Fork basins). The 2015 lease price for the 128,158 acre feet is $40/acre foot, with future prices adjusted annually by the Consumer Price Index. Is this a perpetual “annual revenue stream” for the CSKT? One for which future Montana businesses and citizens will pay? The potential 2015 revenue is $5,126,320. Is this required to “fulfill the purpose for which the Flathead Reservation was established?” If so, why is it termed supplemental?
A negotiated compact is better than litigation only if it’s fair to all.
Frank S. Johnson
Kalispell
