Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission

Compacts

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Negotiation Session Audio Recordings

 

Public Information Meeting Recordings

RWRCC Response to Vandemoer Comments

NEPA and Compact Settlements

FAQ

Milltown Water Right FAQ

Summary - CSKT Compact

Summary - Ordinance

Summary - Water Use Agreement

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Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (Tribes), the State of Montana and the United States (collectively the Parties) have agreed to a series of revisions to the proposed water rights settlement released to the public in October and updated in November 2012. These revisions have been made in response to public comments that were made to the Parties in writing or during the roughly two dozen meetings across western Montana that the Parties have held over the past few months. The settlement is comprised of a proposed Water Rights Compact (Compact), which includes a series of appendices, and a proposed Unitary Administration and Management Ordinance (the Law of Administration or Ordinance). The documents below are the final set that the Parties expect to seek to have ratified by the 2013 Legislature.

Please note that the water rights abstracts that make up several of the Compact appendices continue to be marked as “draft.” This is because these abstracts will not become enforceable until after the Water Court approves the Compact and issues a decree including these rights. These draft abstracts are the set of abstracts that the Parties intend to have the Water Court approve at the appropriate time and they spell out the proposed quantification of the Tribes’ water rights in great detail.

Please also note that several of the appendices have been renumbered since the November document release. For ease of reference a table correlating the old and new appendix numbers is available here.

Next Steps

• The Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission met on February 26, 2013, and voted 8-1 to recommend taking the proposed settlement to the Legislature for approval during the current session.
• The proposed settlement has been introduced as HB629, sponsored by Representative Kathleen Williams. The bill text and hearing schedule information can be found at: http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/law0203w$.startup?P_SESS=20131
• Links to Summaries of the compact, ordinance, and water use agreement and a Frequently Asked Questions document can be found on the left margin.
• After State ratification, both the US Congress and the Tribes would need to approve the settlement. After the three Parties act to ratify the settlement, it would be submitted to the Water Court for final approval.

If you have questions regarding the documents, or the negotiations more broadly, please email us.

Submit written comments on the proposed Compact or Ordinance to Mr. Chris Tweeten, Chair, MT RWRCC, 2705 Spurgin Road, Building C, Missoula, MT  59804 or dnrcwrcc@mt.gov  Comments will be shared with all parties.

PDF files viewable only with the Acrobat Reader.

February 13, 2013

• Proposed Compact
• Annotated Comparison of November 8, 2012 and February 13, 2013 version of the Compact
• Proposed Ordinance
• Annotated Comparison of November 8, 2012 and February 13, 2013 version of the Ordinance
• List of appendices and correlation between old and new appendix numbers

1. Appendix 1  (Hydrologic Basin Maps)
2. Appendix 2  (FIIP Influence Area Map)
3. Appendix 3  (Proposed FIIP Water Use Agreement)
4. Appendix 4  (Proposed Law of Administration/Ordinance)
5. Appendix 5  (FIIP Abstracts in 76L and 76LJ and Maps)
6. Appendix 6  (Map of Non–FIIP Historic Irrigated Acres Lands Eligible for Registration)
7. Appendix 7  (Bureau of Reclamation Modeling Report)
8. Appendix 8  (State Biological Constraints Evaluation)
9. Appendix 9  (Flathead System Compact Water Abstract and Map)
10. Appendix 10 (Natural Node Instream Flow Abstracts and Maps)
11. Appendix 11 (FIIP Instream Flow Nodes Abstracts and Maps)
12. Appendix 12 (Other Instream Flow Abstracts and Maps)
13. Appendix 13 (Interim Instream Flows)
14. Appendix 14 (Interim Instream Flow Protocols)
15. Appendix 15 (FIIP Reservoir Minimum Pool Abstracts and Table and Maps)
16. Appendix 16 (Wetlands Abstracts and Maps)
17. Appendix 17 (High Mountain Lakes Abstracts and Maps)
18. Appendix 18 (Flathead Lake Abstract and Map)
19. Appendix 19 (Boulder Creek Hydroelectric Project Abstract and Map)
20. Appendix 20 (Hellroaring Hydroelectric Project Abstract and Map)
21. Appendix 21 (MTFWP Wetlands Abstracts and Maps)
22. Appendix 22 (MTFWP Claim Number 76L 153988–00 to be Co–Owned by Tribes)
23. Appendix 23 (USFWS Wetland Abstracts and Maps)
24. Appendix 24 (USFWS Claims to be Co-Owned by Tribes)
25. Appendix 25 (Kootenai Mainstem Instream Flow Right Abstract)
26. Appendix 26 (Swan Mainstem Instream Flow Right Abstract)
27. Appendix 27 (Lower Clark Fork Mainstem Instream Flow Right Abstract)
28. Appendix 28 (MTFWP Claims To Be Decreed As Part Of The Compact)
29. Appendix 29 (MTFWP Claims Not To Be Decreed As Part Of The Compact)
30. Appendix 30 (Former Milltown Dam Instream Flow Abstracts)
31. Appendix 31 (Former Milltown Dam Instream Flow Enforceable Level Technical Document)
32. Appendix 32 (2004 DNRC–MTFWP Painted Rocks Contract)
33. Appendix 33 (1958 Painted Rocks Contract Including Amendment)
34. Appendix 34 (1992 Fish Wildlife and Parks–Bureau of Reclamation Lake Como Contract)
35. Appendix 35 (Placid Creek Instream Flow Right Abstract and Map)
36. Appendix 36 (Kootenai River Tributary Instream Flow Abstracts)
37. Appendix 37 (Flathead Reservation Unitary Water Management Board Forms)
38. Appendix 38 (Flathead Preliminary Proposed Decree)

 

November 8, 2012

• Summary of Proposed Compact and Ordinance
• Proposed Compact
• List of Appendices

1. Appendix 1  (3.3 MB)
2. Appendix 2  (1.8 MB)
3. Appendix 3
4. Appendix 4
5. Appendix 5
6. Appendix 6
7. Appendix 7  (1.3 MB)
8. Appendix 8
9. Appendix 9
10. Appendix 10
11. Appendix 11
12. Appendix 12 (202 MB)
13. Appendix 13 (5 MB)
14. Appendix 14 
15. Appendix 15
16. Appendix 16
17. Appendix 17 
18. Appendix 18
19. Appendix 21
20. Appendix 22
21. Appendix 23
22. Appendix 24
23. Appendix 25
24. Appendix 26
25. Appendix 27
26. Appendix 28
27. Appendix 29
28. Appendix 30
29. Appendix 31
30. Appendix 32
31. Appendix 34
32. Appendix 35
33. Appendix 36
34. Appendix 37
35. Appendix 38
36. Appendix 39

Compact Public Meeting Notice

Water Right Administration Comparison

Proposed Administrative Ordinance

 

October 24, 2012

Negotiating Session Presentation

• Powerpoint

October 10, 2012

Summary of the Compact and Ordinance

October 3, 2012

Negotiating Session Presentation (Draft Compact & Ordinance)

• Powerpoint version
• Acrobat PDF version

October 1, 2012

Public Review Draft Water Rights Compact
Entered into by the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, the State Of Montana, and United States of America

• CSKT Public Review Draft Compact (10/2012 Version)

 

September 5, 2012

Review of Key Components of a CSKT-Montana Water Rights Settlement

September 4, 2012

Public Information Meeting

Technical basis for Flathead Indian irrigation Project Water Use Agreement

Background of the EvapoTranspiration Mapping Procedure

August 20, 2012

FJBC Information Meeting

August 1, 2012

Public Information Meeting

July 20, 2012

Question & Answer  -- CSKT-State Compact Negotiations

June 27, 2012

• Components of the Negotiated Settlement and How They Fit Together
• Status of Instream Flow Development for Inclusion in CSKT Water Rights Compact

June 5, 2012

• Draft Agreement Between CSKT, BIA and Flathead Joint Board of Control
  This draft Stipulation agreement is a proposed private agreement among the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, the Flathead Joint Board of Control and the United States regarding the exercise of the consumptive use water right for the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project and the instream flow water rights pertaining to various streams within the FIIP service area that are expected to be quantified as part of the Tribal Water Right recognized in a comprehensive water rights settlement among the Tribes, the State of Montana and the United States.  The State of Montana is not a party to the draft Stipulation, but posts this agreement here as a convenience to the parties to the draft Stipulation and the public.

  Summary of Agreement

State of Montana’s Proposal for the Resolution of the Off-Reservation Water Right Claims of the CSKT

May 30, 2012

• CSKT Response to Off Reservation Proposal Technical Presentation

May 15, 2012

• CSKT’s Response To State’s Off-Reservation Proposal

March 7, 2012

• Statistics for assessing the State’s proposed Milltown Dam Enforceable Hydrograph

January 30, 2012

• Proposal Cover Letter
• Montana's Proposal for the Resolution of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes' Claims to Off-Reservation Water Rights for the Kootenai, Swan, and Clark Fork Rivers

July 20, 2011

• Cover Letter
• Proposal
• Appendix A
• Appendix G
• Appendix H
• Appendix I

Draft Administrative Ordinance Provisions

March 19, 2012

• Updated Revised (3/19/2012)Draft Ordinance

September 22, 2011

• Updated Revised Draft Ordinance

June 29, 2011

• Stock Water Allowance Ordinance Section
• Stock Water Allowance Form A
• Stock Water Allowance Form B
• Stock Water Allowance Presentation

April 27, 2011

• Domestic Allowance Ordinance Sections
• Domestic Allowance Presentation
• FIR Domestic-Form A
• FIR Domestic-Form B
• FIR Excepted Well Recommendation
• FIR Exempt Well Consumption

Proposed New Permits and Changes Flow Chart 

January 7, 2011

• New Permit and Change Process Proposal
• New Permit and Change Process Proposal Flow Chart
• New Permit and Change Process Proposal Exhibit A
• New Permit and Change Process Proposal Exhibit B
• New Permit and Change Process Proposal Exhibit C

September 23, 2008

• State-Ordinance-Chapter 1-Comments-redline document DRAF
• State-Ordinance-Chapters 2-4-Comments-redline document DRAF
• Revised-DRAFT-CSKT Ordinance-clean document
• CSKT Flow Chart

Hungry Horse Reservoir

Below are links to a cover letter and a report detailing the State's response to the Tribes' proposal for access to up to 90KAF of releases from Hungry Horse Reservoir as a component of a comprehensive water rights settlement. Below is also a link to the Bureau of Reclamation's report modeling the possible effects of the Tribes' proposal.

• 9-14-11 Revised  HH Biological Constraints Report
• HH Response Cover Letter
• HH Biological Constraints Report
• April 2010 Bureau of Reclamation Draft Modeling Report