Go slow on tribal water compact
The Flathead County commissioners sure stepped in it with their recent vote to endorse a water-rights compact for the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes, but oh wait, they didn’t actually endorse it — or did they?
Commissioners Gary Krueger and Cal Scott did express support for the compact, but the letter articulating their support to the Legislature ended up saying they simply “affirm” their support for “a compact process.”
This is no way to run this show. For starters, their initial vote came two days prior to New Year’s, and it was a surprise to many to say the least, particularly when the commissioners were opposed to the compact just a few short months ago.
The purpose of the hurry-up vote, it appears, was to give some heft to the input of state Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, as he attended a legislative Water Policy Committee meeting earlier this week in Helena. Tutvedt supports the compact, and the committee will eventually make a recommendation on the compact to the 2015 Legislature, which must vote to approve the document before it can go to Congress for ratification.
There are reasons last year’s Republican-controlled Legislature soundly voted against the compact, which will quantify the tribes’ water rights and direct millions of state and federal dollars to the tribes, largely to improve the Flathead Irrigation District. Most importantly, there were and continue to be unanswered questions about the compact.
We have no doubt that there are positive aspects to this document, chiefly that it will afford protections to existing water uses in and around the reservation. And because Northwest Montana has such an abundance of water, we doubt the compact would result in any spigots being shut off any time in the near future.
However, opponents of the compact are mainly concerned about how it could affect future water uses and economic development throughout the region. That is why caution is justified, on the part of the commissioners and legislators who will ultimately vote on it. Kudos to Commissioner Pam Holmquist for voting against a letter of support at this time.
Previous tribal compacts that have been approved in Montana have focused on water-right quantification within reservation boundaries. This one is a different animal, seeking to quantify Salish-Kootenai tribal water rights extending well beyond the Flathead Reservation’s boundaries.
What’s more, this compact will result in far-reaching tribal water rights being established in perpetuity, which is like... forever. Every effort should be made to examine any impacts or consequences that could arise, intended or unintended.
A lack of examination played a large part in the compact not being approved by last year’s Legislature, because it was presented to lawmakers during the busy legislative session. A rubber stamp vote to approve would have been out of order. But going into the next session, legislators and county commissioners have another year to take a close look at this, and they should feel obligated to do so.
Rushing a vote — at either the county or state level — without adequate public input and a thorough examination of the hundreds of pages of legalese in the compact is irresponsible. Too much is at stake, and too many questions remain.
If you doubt that, we encourage you to remember how a few years ago, all Montanans were being reassured that legislative de-regulation of the power industry would be good for consumers and for the industry — and instead it was an unmitigated disaster. Go slowly, and get it right.
**Courtesy of the Daily Inter Lake