WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Steve Daines pressed a top Interior Department official Tuesday to finalize the last remaining tribal water rights compact in Montana, warning that failure to settle the dispute could expose thousands of agricultural water users to decades of costly litigation.
During a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing, Daines questioned Assistant Secretary William Kirkland of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs about the urgency of resolving water rights claims involving the Fort Belknap Indian Community and farmers and ranchers who rely on the Milk River in north-central Montana.
Daines pointed to the recently completed Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes water compact as a model for the path forward. The Montana Water Court issued its final order approving that compact last week, a milestone Daines said brought long-sought certainty to water users across western Montana.
“Had we not gotten this done, the alternative was almost unthinkable,” Daines said. “Without a settlement, the majority of the water rights claims in Montana would have been litigated over several decades — thousands of water rights claims. The courts are increasingly sympathetic to treaty rights that oftentimes predate statehood.”
Daines noted that the region at the center of the Fort Belknap dispute receives only 12 to 15 inches of rain annually, making reliable water access essential to the agricultural economy along Montana’s Hi-Line.
“This is about water security for tribal and non-tribal water users,” Daines said. “It’s for infrastructure for Montana agriculture and certainty for future generations. These are legacy decisions we can make and move forward — and not put this on the backs of our children and grandchildren.”
Kirkland told the committee the department supported settling water rights claims and committed to continuing work with Daines and the committee to resolve all active disputes. When Daines asked whether the two could push to complete the Northern Montana Water Security Act this year, Kirkland said he would echo Secretary Doug Burgum’s commitment to work toward that goal.
By: Big Sky Broadcasting Newswire