Call legislators about compact

My husband and I attended the last meeting about the water compact in Kalispell. 

This is what it referenced about the water in Flathead River and Hungry Horse Reservoir: “The tribes may also lease this water for use on or off the Reservation. The compact provides access to lease 11,000 acre-feet of this water from Hungry Horse Reservoir at a fixed rate, to be administered by the state to mitigate [to make less severe or painful — copied from the Webster’s dictionary] for domestic, commercial, municipal, and industrial water development off the reservation.” 

That’s you and me, folks.

My question is, according to this pact the tribe will be leasing the water of Western Montana back to the citizens of Western Montana. Why should we be paying the tribe for water that belongs to us already? The state Constitution says that in Montana the water belongs to the people. 

If you are concerned about how this will impact your life, call your representatives at 406-444-4800, or their website is www.leg.mt.gov. They are working on this legislation now. This is a forever contract. There will be no do-overs. Let’s get it right for all of Montana’s people. —Susan Krauss, Kalispell