Commissioners hear about area water rights

SUPERIOR – The County Commissioners discussed water rights issues and heard a county resources update during their weekly meeting Friday.

Tim Read, county sanitarian, related the events of a water planning meeting, which took place in Deer Lodge. According to Read, representatives at the meeting said 97 percent of water used in the area was for irrigation.

Read said the Department of Revenue defined irrigated land as land where crops are planted. The department does not consider pastured lands as irrigated.

“We could be somewhat under reported for irrigated lands in Mineral County,” Read said.

Read planned to look into the issue and do more research. This led to concerns over when water could be used by owners of land rights.

According to Read, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s rules state if water has not been used within a certain amount of time, it is determined the land owner does not need it. The water rights are then open to others to use or claim.

Read will determine who owns the water rights to the Clark Fork and figure out how long it has been since the owner used the water. He will look into whether a claim can be made to free up the water rights.

According to Read, there are approximately 60 surface water diversions out of the Clark Fork River. He said there would likely be a push to get high water storage for the diversions. This would allow the county to manage the water use of the river and put it to beneficial use.

After the safety meeting, during which a safety review on wet floors was conducted, the Mineral County Resource Advisory Group spoke to the commissioners.

MCRAG brought forward two letters, which they had drafted for the commissioners to sign. Angelo Ververas, spokesman for MCRAG, read the letters at the meeting and described the intent.

The first letter related to the new forest supervisor, after Debby Austin’s retirement. The commissioners have certain requirements and characteristics the new supervisor needs to possess.

The letter was addressed to Faye Krueger, the regional forester, with a copy to be sent to the state legislators. The letter reminds Krueger of how important the Lolo National Forest is to Mineral County and how the forest supervisor will be equally important to the community.

The letter continued to address issues, which were addressed between Krueger and Austin regarding the health of the forest. Included in this was an account of a pine beetle epidemic and how the beetles have wreaked havoc on the forest.

“This epidemic has been building for the past 10 years and has resulted in more than several hundred acres of standing dead trees,” read Ververas.

The letter described several projects to lessen wild fires as a result of the dead trees. It was also mentioned how the timber industry and the Forest Service share a symbiotic relationship and cannot function properly without the other. The letter ended with a list of proposed criteria for Krueger to consider when hiring the new supervisor, so all sides would benefit and problems would be addressed. Finally, the commissioners asked to be given updates during the search for a new forest supervisor.

The second letter was also forwarded to the legislators. The letter was also sent to Krueger and gave a reminder of the expedited schedule of the Cedar Thom project. The letter contained a reminder of the promise to have the biological decisions on the project made by December. Because of Austin’s retirement, it was stated the decision’s completion was even more imperative.

Cedar Thom is a forest maintenance project with the primary goal of removing forest debris from the area and keeping roads maintained. The project has been delayed due to concerns over the project’s effect on bull trout populations.

It was recommended both letters also be sent to the governor’s office along with the legislators. This would ensure the letters could not be ignored and would help stop any procrastination on the decision.

The changes to the letters were agreed upon by the commissioners and the letters were sent to be revised, signed and mailed out.