Commissioner vote on CSKT water compact was wrong

Two of Flathead County’s three county commissioners have signed on to the proposed water compact with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). This is the identical compact that was rejected by the 2013 Montana State Legislature.

Commissioners Gary D. Krueger and Calvin L. Scott have endorsed the compact, while Commissioner Pamela J. Holmquist has stood up for her constituents by opposing it. In Krueger and Scott’s letter they are submitting to the Montana Legislative Water Policy Interim Committee, they state:

“However, we believe that in this case the commission, the tribes and the United. States have come to an agreement that can be fair, equitable and respectful of individual rights which can protect and promote the interests of the citizens we serve.”

I disagree. There are a couple of reasons I do not agree this agreement can be “fair, equitable and respectful of individual rights which can protect and promote the interests of the citizens we serve.”

I believe this agreement will take existing water rights away from some irrigators and owners of fee patented land on the CSKT Reservation and transfer those rights to the tribe or a new political entity known as the Joint Board of Control. It will also grant the tribe an excess of water which they might lease or sell to other entities, while depriving the north end of Flathead County from the water.

Of the several water compacts that have been entered into with other Indian tribes in Montana, this is the only one that grants off-reservation water rights to a tribe. There is some speculation that this might prompt other tribes in Montana to push to reopen their compacts with the state and federal government to increase their benefits.

Several of us state legislators from Flathead County have been working on an improved compact that would guarantee property and water rights to both Indians and non-Indians and distribute the water in the Flathead basin in a fair manner. Hopefully this action by the two commissioners will not sabotage our efforts.

Rep. Jerry O’Neil, R-Columbia Falls, represents House District 3.