Montana Water Court nothing to fear
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
Editor,
A letter in last week’s Valley Journal incorrectly states that if the CSKT Compact is not passed, everyone will have to hire their own lawyer to protect their water rights. The irony of the letter is that the same person who wrote it, Susan Lake, invited former Chief Judge Bruce Lobel to the Mission Valley in January 2014, but apparently didn’t listen to what he said.
Judge Lobel stated that over 250,000 people have already been through the Montana Water Court on their water rights, and 95 percent of these claims were resolved without a lawyer, using the same process where the Montana DNRC conducts the field work and verification before the Court. From a transcript of the meeting, here is what Judge Lobel said:
“Your state based water rights are gonna mostly be settled in the water court. When the water court comes up here, there’s gonna be a lot of objections that might get filed, there might be a lot of DNRC claims examination issues on your water rights. But eventually those water rights are all gonna be settled. Very few of them go, to quote “litigation,” before a hearing of the water court.”
There is nothing to fear from the Montana Water Court. Everyone’s claims, including the Tribes, will be protected in that venue and fairly heard and resolved. The Tribes’ claims are protected because the Montana Water Court has to follow federal law in resolving them in state court. Those are the rules that most of us live by, and can live by, without the fear mongering.
David Passieri
St. Ignatius
