LETTER: Fight over dam license explained

As the chair of an organization which is an intervenor in the Kerr Dam partial license transfer proceedings, I was disappointed to see the Daily Inter Lake’s Nov. 24th front page headline entitled “Agency upholds tribal dam acquisition.” The proceedings have nothing to do with the tribes’ acquisition or ownership of Kerr Dam, which the story accurately discusses. None of the intervenors have challenged the tribes’ ownership of the facility in these license transfer proceedings.

The Montana Land and Water Alliance efforts, among others, are aimed at conditioning the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for the Kerr project so as to protect the Montana public, including lake level regulations, payments in lieu of taxes, irrigation water deliveries, and electric utility rates. All of the parties have now exhausted our “administrative remedies” before FERC and the next forum is the federal district court in Washington, D.C.  

If there is an appeal, it will be the first time since 1985 that the public has been outside the FERC labyrinth and in a court which has independent authority from FERC. A successful appeal may finally provide the public a chance to decide for itself whether the license transfer is in the public interest, and what kind of conditions attached to the license would ensure the Kerr project is operated beneficially for all, as it was always intended to be regardless of ownership.

We hope the Daily Inter Lake will keep reporting on this license transfer issue. —Catherine Vandemoer, Polson, Montana Land and Water Alliance