Stakes too high for rushed decision on water
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Editor,
Some say it will utterly destroy farming, ranching, lives, and land values in northwestern Montana. Others argue there’s nothing to fear in the massive Salish-Kootenai water rights compact. Both sides agree the economic implications are perhaps the largest we will see in our lifetime. But there is strong disagreement over whether those outcomes will be good or bad.
In either case, billions of dollars in future land values and water rights are on the line. Hundreds of millions in state and federal funds are expected to be involved as well. Advocates are pressuring the Montana legislature to sign the proposal into law very soon. The tribe is understandably anxious for approval.
But the legislature has not yet received a copy of the recently completed, one-thousand-plus page compact or the accompanying bill. With only a few weeks remaining in this year’s busy legislative session, it will be impossible for legislators to read the documents, understand the consequences, and make a responsible yes or no vote on this extremely vital, and permanent, decision.
Unlike most legislation, this law cannot be adjusted in the future. Once ratified, it will be forever binding upon present and future generations. All parties must exercise extraordinary caution.
This compact is unlike any Montana has seen before. It includes unprecedented volumes of water, tribal control well beyond the reservation boundary, and a new system separating water rights from deeded land within the reservation.
The legislature and the public need time to analyze this very important agreement and give it the due diligence it deserves. We must extend the compact deadline to allow adequate time for review.
I support the efforts of the tribe to secure their rights and improve their communities. But I cannot vote in favor of a binding agreement of this magnitude without time to read it and assess its ramifications on all the people I represent.
Only one thing is certain. Rural Montana cannot afford another economic setback. The stakes are way too high for a rush decision.
Jennifer Fielder
Montana Senate District 7
