Scores turn out for Flathead water rights hearing

HELENA — Lawmakers asked to ratify a tribal water-rights compact held a two-hour hearing that brought scores of supporters and opponents to debate how one of the state’s most precious resources should be allocated in western Montana.

The compact quantifies and clarifies the water rights of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. It also calls for the state to pay $55 million for improvements to the Flathead Indian Irrigation system and other water and conservation projects on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana.

The compact is the product of 10 years of negotiations and must be ratified by the state, the tribes and the U.S. Congress.

State lawmakers took the first step toward ratification Wednesday in a House Judiciary Committee hearing on House Bill 629.

Supporters said it will help the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project on the Flathead reservation and boost economic development, but western Montana irrigators and landowners worried the deal could impair their own water rights and usage.

“Irrigators will receive less water than they are using today, rest assured,” said Daniel Cole, a farmer from Dixon. “We, too, want an agreement, but when people’s livelihoods are at stake, it must be the correct agreement, and this is not it.”

Backers of the compact said those fears are driven by misinformation, Lee Newspapers of Montana reported.

“While this compact may not meet every person’s expectation, it meets every person’s needs,” said Alan Mikkelsen, a farmer and rancher from Ronan. “No one is losing their irrigation water, on or off the reservation.”

Rep. Dan Salomon, R-Ronan, is sponsoring a bill that calls for a two-year legislative study of the compact before submitting it to the 2015 Legislature for approval.  Salomon previously said he did not believe the Legislature would pass the compact this session, but he testified Wednesday for the bill’s passage now.

Gov. Steve Bullock, who supports the compact, wants to amend the bill to spend $12.3 million in cash the next two years to get the projects started, said Bullock’s chief legal counsel, Andrew Huff.

Tribal officials said they’ll likely take their claims to court if the Legislature fails to ratify the compact.