Water compact meeting starts at 9 a.m. today

The revised draft of the proposed water rights compact for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes will be presented to the public today starting at 9 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell.

The meeting will begin with opening statements from members of the compact commission who negotiated compact changes with the tribes last year.

The revised compact was released to the public Wednesday night.

Following a PowerPoint presentation outlining the 2014 negotiations and compact revisions, members of the public will be given approximately one hour to comment on the new language. The meeting will adjourn at noon.

The proposed compact would take steps to quantify the tribes’ water rights and obligate the state of Montana to spend $55 million on improvements to the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project. 

Before it’s sent to the state Legislature, the compact would need to be approved Monday night in Helena when the full nine-member commission gathers for its final public meeting.

The revised compact is available online at www.dnrc.mt.gov/rwrcc/Compacts/CSKT/Default.asp.