The Department of the Interior and the Confederate Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation have executed a water rights settlement agreement allocating $1.9 billion in government funding toward improving water efficiency on the reservation.
The settlement, known as the Montana Water Rights Protection Act (“Settlement Act”) was enacted by Congress on December 21, 2020, and has been called the largest awarded sum in a tribal water rights case, according to Char-Koosta News. The Settlement Act will formally recognize the rights to water on and off of the Flathead Reservation and provide further funding to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) for fish and wildlife habitat preservation and use.
“Water is a sacred resource, and water rights are crucial to ensuring the health, safety, and empowerment of Tribal communities. The Department is committed to upholding our trust responsibilities and delivering long-promised water resources to Tribes, certainty to all their non-Indian neighbors, and a solid foundation for future economic development for entire communities dependent on common water resources," said Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, in a press release.
While CSKT now has full control over the water within the reservation, the settlement also maintains that they relinquish their claims to thousands of off-reservation water rights across Montana that were formerly used when CSKT ceded land to the federal government in 1855, according to Tribal Business News.
“Our elders continually remind us to protect our water, and this day marks the beginning of the water compact implementation that will protect the water for all generations to come. The many people who worked on this, especially those who are no longer with us, I’d like to honor them for their efforts allowing us to reach this point. They were all instrumental in realizing this long-awaited vision,” said Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Chairwoman Shelly Fyant in a press release.
The funding awarded will be placed in a trust fund and used for a wide variety of projects, including developments for irrigation, administration of water rights within the Flathead Reservation, livestock fencing, and improvements toward water distribution.
The settlement brought about the conclusion to nearly 40 years of negotiations between the tribe and the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission.
