Accurate data on CSKT Water Compact is key

By Bill Greiman

The decision our legislature makes on the CSKT Water Compact is too important to be based off anything but the most accurate data possible.

The scientific facts, not the arguments based on what some may feel or believe, are what will provide the greatest benefit Montanans.

We need to take a reasoned, pragmatic, and fact-based approach to the CSKT Water Compact. And while it is understandable that any debate over our state’s most valuable resource would evoke emotional arguments, basing the decision that will determine the future of water rights in our state on such emotional arguments would be counter-productive to acting in the best interests of Montanans.

As an agricultural engineer and former staff member of the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission (RWRCC), I spent 25 years working on and reviewing the contents of the CSKT Water Compact and can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that passing the Compact will benefit the state of Montana.

The negotiated Compact before the legislature not only defines the tribal water rights and protects existing water right owners, but it includes provisions to conserve and better utilize the water resources we have.

One question that has been brought up throughout the ongoing Compact debate is how the Compact Commission was able to determine and define the amounts of water listed within the Compact, as well as how much water has been used historically and will be needed in the future for the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project. The answer is that through the use of extensive modeling using decades of past water use records, we are able to predict what instream flows will be at a given time of year depending on the amount of run off, etc.

Water diversions and measurements contained within the Compact are based on records of historical consumptive use of the water, as well as a detailed analysis of on-the-ground water distribution and satellite imaging over a period of several decades.

This data shows how much water is used in a specific area on a daily basis, and is the result of records kept by the tribe, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Flathead Joint Board of Control (FJBC).

The tribe alone kept detailed accounts of over 20 years of stream flow data for waterways feeding the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project (FIIP). River diversions were subtracted from these amounts to determine the needs to the project, which were confirmed by what records were available from the BIA, the FJBC, and satellite data collected about the distribution of water on the project.

The satellite imaging technology was also used to estimate the efficiency gain from the delivery improvements included in the Compact.

It was this data and the models that we were able to create that allowed us to determined which improvements would do the most to increase the efficiency of on project water delivery and allow for the maximum conservation of water.

By providing for FIIP improvements that minimize canal seepage and accurately measure water levels by improving or replacing water measurement instruments, the Compact is able to meet the instream flow needs of the tribe and the needs of project irrigators. But the data gathered on the use and diversion amounts of water does more than ensure that irrigators get the water they need, it also improves delivery timing—ensuring that during critical times when irrigators need more water, they are able to get it.

The data that the Compact improvements and delivery models are based on has been formulated with decades of information and water use records and have been checked, double checked, and triple checked for accuracy.

There is no doubt that not only does the Compact provide sufficient water resources to irrigators on the FIIP, but actually provides access to greater water resources than they have had access to in the past.

It is my hope that our legislators will pass the Compact and move forward with the knowledge that the Compact utilizes the best and most accurate information available that ensures the needs of water users are met.

Bill Greiman is a retired member of the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission staff where he worked on water issues for 25 years. He is also an agricultural engineer.