SB72 To Revise Judicial Administration of Water Rights
Apologies for not catching this in time to notify folks, but a hearing on SB72 to Revise Judicial Administration of Water Rights, sponsored by Steve Fitzpatrick was held TODAY in the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
A copy of the Fitzpatrick bill can be found at this link: SB72 To Revise Judicial Administration of Water Rights.
The legislature has been looking at making drastic changes to the Water Court for a while and it is pretty much guaranteed that this is a high priority bill for the legislative session. If it is ratified, it will have an immediate effective date.
Those of us living in western Montana whose water rights adjudications could potentially be impacted by it, had better be paying close attention to this bill. We received an ACTION ALERT this afternoon on this bill, asking people to oppose it. The notification went on to say that this bill is poorly crafted (that’s an understatement) and could be challenged in light of Montana Constitution Article IX Section 3. As written could strip Montana courts jurisdiction over Water Rights.
At this time we are not sure about what if any actions if any took place on this bill in the committee.
The bad news is that the vice chairs of the Senate Natural Resources Committee are Shane Morigeau a CSKT member and attorney, and Walt Sales of FARM Since FARM was bought and paid for with CSKT money via Mercury LLC, Mr. Sales will very likely also be supporting the tribe’s position on legislation that comes before this committee.
Water Court Stay on Basins 76L, 76LJ set to Expire Tomorrow (01/10/2023)
In addition to the advancement of this rewiring of the Montana Water Court and its adjudication process, another important Water Court deadline is slated for tomorrow.
The Water Court Extension of a Stay on the adjudication of water rights in hydrologic Basins 76L and 76LJ will expire tomorrow.
A copy of that stay can be found here: Montana Water Court Stay Basins 76L, 76LJ.
Basin 76L is Flathead River below Flathead Lake and Basin 76LJ is Flathead River to and including Flathead Lake.
This stay was originally requested by the CSKT in 2016, and they had it extended in 2019.
While we cannot know for certain the real purpose of the stay, we believe it has served to prevent scrutiny of the tribes overreaching water compact claims in those basins, ahead of the water court review of the Flathead Compact Decree.
But considering the level of deceit that accompanied this compact from its inception, the more likely reason for the stay is because the United States / CSKT wanted to thwart Montana from adjudicating anyone’s water rights before their compact “negotiated” and illegal claims are certified by the Montana Water Court in the Flathead Compact Decree.
Because of the CSKT demands made in their 1981 lawsuit against the state of Montana, we know that the tribe sees all non-Indian water rights within reservation boundaries as “null and void”. Does anyone think that the tribe thinks otherwise in 2023?
At this time we are unsure as to the implications of the expiration of the stay, but we’d like to ask that you don’t let it take your focus away from preparing and submitting an objection to the Flathead Water Compact Decree with the Water court by the February 9th. 2023 deadline.
We will update you concerning this when more information becomes available.
Standing Committee Listings and Email Addresses of All Legislators
Here is a PDF listing of the email addresses for all legislators. 2023 Montana Legislator Email Listing
You can click on the hyperlinks to email one legislator on the list, or copy and paste a number of email addresses directly into the TO: box in your email program.
For your reference, here are links to lists of legislative members of the standing committees in the House and the Senate: