POLSON - After a lengthy delay, negotiations for an interim water rights agreement between tribal, state and federal governments on the Flathead Reservation will resume soon, Clayton Matt, a tribal spokesman, said Monday.
Recently the chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes sent a letter to the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission advising the panel that the tribes now have a draft interim water use agreement ready to discuss, and are ready to meet with state and federal negotiating teams again.
In a response, Tweeten said the state also has its own draft interim water agreement ready to present and is ready to meet. Past meetings have been held at KwaTaqNuk Resort in Polson.
"We are pleased to see that the tribes are ready to move forward on an interim agreement, and we look forward to meeting with you," Tweeten said. He said the state has been ready since June to move forward on drafting an interim agreement.
A major issue in the discussions is the revocability of an interim agreement.
The federal government insists that an interim agreement is a temporary measure, an agreement valid only as along as the parties agree to agree, and by federal law the tribes retain the power to revoke any licenses granted under the plan in case negotiations break down and water rights negotiations become litigation.
The state and local governments and other water users on the reservation fear that the revocability of an interim agreement at the tribes' option would hamper the ability to get financing for water projects.
The tribes claim they have aboriginal water rights dating back well before Montana became a state, and the rights to that water are reserved for the tribes by the federal government through the Hellgate Treaty of 1855. The treaty provides for the "exclusive right of taking fish in all streams running through and bordering" the reservation, and by implication the water to support the fish in those streams.
Water rights discussions have been going on in fits and starts between tribal government and the state for more than 20 years. The state has reached agreement on federal reserved water rights with several other tribes.
Three years ago CSKT put forward a unique proposal to turn over administration of water rights to the tribal government, and manage water as a unitary resource on the reservation, under the tribal government's exclusive jurisdiction.
The proposal has been resisted fiercely by the state of Montana - no such thing had ever been done in previous tribal-state water compacts - and the tribes agreed to take the proposal off the table temporarily, as discussions for an interim plan proceeded.
Legislation passed by the 2003 Legislature authorized the state Compact Commission to proceed with negotiation of an interim water plan.
Reporter John Stromnes can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at jstromnes@missoulian.com
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)