Water compact issue about to get heated in Helena

So far, things have been relatively quiet at the Montana Legislature when it comes to a water rights compact for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

But that is likely to change soon.

The Montana Reserved Water Commission approved a revised compact Monday night, so political wheels will start turning quickly in Helena and opponents and proponents of the controversial compact will be converging on the Capitol.

“The Capitol is going to be flooded with people who are for it and against it … but the decision will be made by the legislators,” said Verdell Jackson, a former Republican state senator from the Flathead Valley who is a leading opponent of the compact.

The compact was shot down in the 2013 Legislature. It’s been rewritten and renegotiated between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the state.

“The last time, probably 95 percent of Republicans opposed it and 95 percent of Democrats supported it. It became a very partisan issue,” Jackson said, referring to the 2013 legislative session when a bill to approve the compact died in a House committee.

“The water compact has become a very emotional issue,” Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, said. He has been a vocal proponent of the compact. “Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting, and water brings out a lot of emotion from people.”

Now that the compact commission has acted, Tutvedt anticipates that a bill to approve it will be introduced in the near future, possibly by Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, or Rep. Dan Salomon, R-Ronan, who served as a negotiator for the state on the commission.

Tutvedt expects the bill will be introduced in the Senate and start its run through the Legislature with a hearing in the Senate Natural Resources Committee. In 2013, the compact was introduced just before the deadline, and some lawmakers said they opposed it because they didn’t have time to review and understand it.

This time, Tutvedt said there will be a different approach, and the Legislature will have the “maximum time to read and deliberate this bill.”

Tutvedt said he is confident that the compact will pass the Senate, and its chances will be better in the House than they were two years ago because of a rule change approved in the House last week, giving both the Republican and Democratic caucuses six “silver bullets” to blast legislation out of committees on a simple majority vote rather than a super majority vote.

That makes it more likely that the compact bill will go before the full House, rather than being held up in a committee like it was in 2013.

Jackson believes there is strong public opposition to the compact and he is hopeful that will influence lawmakers. 

 “I am hopeful that some of the Democrats are affected by the information that’s come out since the last session,” he said. Tutvedt said many legislators who previously opposed the compact in 2013 are now even more hardened in their opposition. 

Tutvedt and other proponents generally argue that the compact will provide protections and certainty for water rights, and that it will allow the tribes and water rights holders to avoid costly litigation adjudicating individual cases before the Montana Water Court.

“We are better off with this negotiated settlement,” Tutvedt said. “I think the pro-compact effort is ramping up, and people are actually reading and looking at the document. If you make a good faith to understand the compact, there is much to like.”

Jackson and other compact opponents generally assert that it will lead to an unconstitutional taking of water rights from irrigators on the Flathead Reservation; that they will lose their state-based water rights protections, and that a proper environmental review has not been conducted to address its potential impacts. But one of the biggest concerns is the unprecedented nature of the compact, in that it extends well beyond reservation boundaries, applying to water rights in 11 counties in western Montana.

“The thing with this one is it doesn’t resemble those,” said Sen. Janna Taylor, R-Rollins, referring to previous tribal water rights compacts that have passed the Legislature. “This one is just way too different.”

Taylor added that she and many of her constituents have concerns about how the different nature of the compact will play out. “I don’t want to pass it to find out what’s in it,” she said. 

“I don’t think all the concerns of the people have been resolved,” she added. “Half of my constituents are in favor and have are not in favor. It’s pretty sad … I would like to see a compact but there are just too many concerns.”

In order for the compact to take effect, it must be ratified by the Legislature, Congress and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council.