Meeting to discuss water rights in Flathead Compact

You’ve heard that water will be the next gold for years, and it appears it’s coming to fruition.

In June, the Montana Water Court sent a letter to 68,000 landowners in western Montana to notify the landowners that if they object to the terms of the Flathead Compact as it pertains to their water rights, they need to file an objection with the Water Court before Dec. 6, 2022.

The eight-page letter included a summary of the Flathead Compact, naming all of the basins that are affected. It is estimated that 300,000 landowners actually should have received the letter from the Water Court.

The passage of the compact in December 2020, which moved through Congress as the Montana Water Rights Protection Act, comes five years after the Montana Legislature narrowly approved a similar agreement with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The Act, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester, resolve thousands of water-rights claims by the CSKT, provide nearly $2 billion for a major irrigation project and return the 19,000-acre National Bison Range to tribal ownership.

Deputy County Attorney for Mineral County, Wally Congdon is one of five attorneys that has been working on the water rights issue for five years.

“What people don’t realize is that there is verbiage from three treaties back that have serious consequential outcomes, even if they don’t have water rights on their properties,” Congdon said at a recent meeting.

A town hall meeting directed to the residents of Mineral and Sanders counties is being held Monday, Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m., inside the St. Regis Community Center at 209 Lobo Loop.

“This is a wakeup call for those knowing nothing about the land swap that is highly possible given the circumstances of pact. This is not the time to sit on your hands,” Congdon stressed.