Water rights board selects fifth member

The Flathead Reservation Water Management Board selected an aquatic biologist and educator to serve as its fifth member.

Georgia Smies was picked by the board following closed-session interviews held during its second official meeting last week.

To conclude appointments, a sixth ex officio member will be selected by the Department of the Interior.

A mix of federal, state and tribal appointments, the board now serves as the exclusive regulatory body for water rights on the reservation following the landmark Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes water compact last year.

For her part, Smies works as a fisheries and wildlife instructor at Salish Kootenai College.

She previously worked as a water quality specialist, according to a Friday release from the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

“I consider this a great honor to serve on the board,” Smies said in the release.

She said her career has revolved around studying natural resources.

“I expect to draw on that lifetime of work to carry out my responsibilities,” Smies said. “Like so many others, I have watched the evolution of the water compact, and I’m excited and feeling blessed to work with a very talented team.”

The board includes two members appointed by the governor and two members appointed by CSKT. These four members then appointed Smies.

She joins geologist Roger Noble and Polson attorney Kenneth Pitt, who were appointed by Gov. Greg Gianforte; the CSKT tribal council appointed Teresa Wall-McDonald, director of human resources for Salish Kootenai College, and Clayton Matt, director of Tribal Services.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland will select the final ex officio member, for which an announcement has not yet been made.

The board, meanwhile, is set to meet again Feb. 10. It will focus on hiring an engineer, according to the Friday release.

The engineer evaluates water rights requests, and then makes formal recommendations to the board. The board holds final authority in approving or denying rights on the reservation.