Water right claims are not water rights
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Editor,
Mr. Passieri’s response (Valley Journal, Jan. 22, 2014) to my letter mixes up two different things: a water right and a water right claim. In my letter I said that no one has a state water right for project irrigation water. The Flathead Joint Board of Control has a water right claim on project water filed with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, but the FJBC does not have a state water right for project water. The Department of Interior also has a water right claim on project water filed with the DNRC but the DOI does not have a state water right for project water.
Apparently there also are a few landowners who directly filed a water right claim on project water but they do not have a state water right on project water.
The Tribes have said that if the Compact is not approved they will file a claim for project water.
It will then be up to the Montana Water Court to decide who has a project water right, the quantity of the project water right and the priority date of the project water right relative to the priority date of any Tribal instream water right (1855 or earlier) granted by the Water Court.
Dick Erb
Moiese
