© 2023 Concerned Citizens of Western Montana

You still have time to get your objections to the Flathead Water Compact  Preliminary Decree sent in to the Water Court.

OBJECTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE WATER COURT NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 9, 2023. 

LATE OBJECTIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. 

The Water Court Notifications sent out to the public said this about objections:

See Complete Water Court Notification Here.

At this stage in the adjudication, all affected persons are required to state any objections that they may have to the Preliminary Decree. Your water usage may be affected by the Flathead Compact. If you do not agree with the Tribal Water Rights recognized in the Flathead Compact, you may file an objection and request a hearing and the Water Court will hear your objection under the existing legal standards. This will be your only opportunity to object to the Preliminary Decree. If you do not file an objection at this time, you will not be able to object to the Preliminary Decree in any other proceedings before the Water Court and you will be bound by any final decree entered by the Water Court approving the Tribal Water Rights quantified in the Flathead Compact.

For those of you that are running late but still want to submit an objection via email, here is some information you may find helpful:

Page 2 of the objection form explains that you can email copies of your objection to the water court and to the attorney’s representing the parties to the compact.  You must also complete and sign the certificate of mailing and include it with your objection.  

Here’s a link to the water court objection form should you need it: 

Objection Form

The document linked below includes information that may be helpful to you as you prepare your objection.  It includes links to the Flathead Compact Decree documents that are posted on the Montana Water Court website:

Flathead Compact Water Court Objection Links and Resources

Some Items You Might Want to Consider

The water court suggested that you compare your water rights to the claims of the tribes, however because of the complexity of the compact, that is much easier said than done. Here are some ideas as to some of the things you should look at or consider as you prepare your objection:

  • If you are an irrigator, you may want to consider and compare your known historic deliveries of water to the water deliveries mandated in the compact.
  • If you are an irrigator on the Flathead project and have what is called double or triple duty water, the compact will result in a very significant reduction in the amount of water delivered to your land.
  • How will the time immemorial CSKT claim to all of the water in Flathead Lake impact the water rights of users whose water comes from the tributaries flowing into the lake, or groundwater that is located near the lake?
  • If you are a secretarial water right holder, how does the compact affect those very valuable water rights?
  • Is your water right located on property that was an original allotment? If it is you have an 1855 Walton Right.  Your right is the equivalent of the water right the original tribal allottee had on the property.  How will the compact impact that water right?     
  • Does your land patent mention water rights and how might those guarantees be impacted by the compact?
  • If you have undeveloped land, will the compact influence your ability to put a well on the property or to develop the property in the future?
  • Do the restrictions in the compact pertaining to exempt wells harm your water rights in any way?
  • You may want to review the tribal claims located downstream of your water right, because the time immemorial claims awarded to the tribe in the compact could very well result in a call against your upstream water right.
  • If you come across any compact water rights with a time immemorial priority date that conflict with your water rights, you should object to them. Those claims are not federal reserved water rights and they have no foundation in the law.
  • For those living in western Montana outside of reservation boundaries, it is important to understand that any “off reservation” water rights are not federal reserved water rights. Instead those claims in the compact are considered to be Tribal Reserved water rights that do not exist in the law and must be challenged in the water court.
  • As a property owner or business person, you should also consider the impact that the massive volumes of water awarded to the United States and CSKT in the Flathead Compact will have on future growth and development.
  • Do the terms of the compact violate your constitutional protections of due process and equal treatment under the law?

Thanks to all of you who have already submitted your objections, and to those of you who still plan to submit one.