Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Compact
Flathead Lake
Attention:
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes – Montana Compact was fully approved by the Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, on September 17, 2021. The date of this signature will serve as the effective date of the Compact and triggers a 180-day filing opportunity to register existing State-based water uses on the Reservation (“Registrations”) per the Compact (85-20-1901, MCA) and Unitary Administration and Management Ordinance (85-2-1902, MCA). Please go to our Registrations Page for complete details.
Also see our Frequently Asked Questions (10/6/2021) document for more information about the Compact and Registration process.
This Public Notice Letter will be mailed to landowners on the Flathead Reservation on the week of October 11.
Other Compact Resources
State Ratified Compact: 85-20-1901 MCA
State Ratified Unitary Administration & Management Ordinance 85-20-1902
CSKT-Montana Compact Implementation Technical Team
2019 Comparison - CSKT Compact vs. Adjudication of CSKT Claims (No Compact)
The CSKT-Montana Compact is the result of more than a decade of negotiations to resolve the Tribes' claims to reserved water rights. It includes State, Federal, and Tribal authorizations. The State of Montana ratified the Compact in 2015 (MCA 85-20-1901); the Federal government approved the Compact in late 2020 (Montana Water Rights Protection Act); the CSKT Tribal Council approved the Compact two days later and final approval and release of claims and waivers by the Department of Interior was completed with the signature of Interior Secretary, Deb Haaland on September 17, 2021; On the Effective Date, the Unitary Administration and Management Ordinance (Ordinance) tooks effect, and the Water Management Board (“Board”) was established. This Board is a regulatory body comprised of members appointed by both the State of Montana and the Tribes and is the authority for all water right permitting and changes within the Flathead Indian Reservation in perpetuity. Please note that it will take some months for the State of Montana and Tribes to make their selections for the Board. Both the State and Tribes will make two appointments to the Board, respectively, and a fifth member will be selected by the other four members.
Implementation Underway
On August 12, 2015, the parties to the compact established the Compact Implementation Technical Team (CITT) with one member each from the State, the Federal government, the Tribes, the Project, and the Irrigators served by the Project. The CITT advises the operator of the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project regarding the implementation of operational improvements, rehabilitation and betterment of Project facilities, and adaptive management as required by the Compact.
With the compact becoming fully effective on September 17, 2021, the parties will be busily engaged in selecting their respective Board Members, assisting with the registration process, and training Office of Engineer employees. For a more complete list and timeline of compact implementation tasks on the horizon, see appendix 3.4 below.
State Ratified Compact: 85-20-1901 MCA
Map - Off-Reservation Compact Water Rights
Compact Appendices
| Appendix 1 | (Hydrologic Basin Maps) |
| Appendix 2 | (FIIP Influence Area Map) |
| Appendix 3.1 | (MEFs, TIFs, Minimum Reservoir Pool Elevations) |
| Appendix 3.2 | (River Diversion Allowances) |
| Appendix 3.3 | (Historic Farm Deliveries) |
| Appendix 3.4 | (Implementation Schedule) |
| Appendix 3.5 | (Adaptive Management and CITT) |
| Appendix 3.6 | (Rehabilitation and Betterment) |
| Appendix 3.7 | (Determination of Wet, Normal and Dry Years) |
| Appendix 4 | (Proposed Law of Administration/Ordinance) |
| Appendix 5 | (FIIP Abstracts in 76L and 76LJ and Maps) |
| Appendix 6 | (Map of Non-FIIP Historic Irrigated Acres Lands Eligible for Registration) |
| Appendix 7 | (Bureau of Reclamation Modeling Report) |
| Appendix 8 | (State Biological Constraints Evaluation) |
| Appendix 9 | (Flathead System Compact Water Abstract and Map) |
| Appendix 10 | (Natural Node Instream Flow Abstracts and Maps) |
| Appendix 11 | (FIIP Instream Flow Nodes Abstracts and Maps) |
| Appendix 12 | (Other Instream Flow Abstracts and Maps) |
| Appendix 13 | (Interim Instream Flows and Interim Reservoir Pool Elevations |
| Appendix 14 | (Interim Instream Flow Protocols) |
| Appendix 15 | (FIIP Reservoir Minimum Pool Abstracts and Maps) |
| Appendix 16 | (Wetlands Abstracts and Maps) |
| Appendix 17 | (High Mountain Lakes Abstracts and Maps) |
| Appendix 18 | (Flathead Lake Abstract and Map) |
| Appendix 19 | (Boulder Creek Hydroelectric Project Abstract and Map) |
| Appendix 20 | (Hellroaring Hydroelectric Project Abstract and Map) |
| Appendix 21 | (MTFWP Wetlands Abstracts and Maps) |
| Appendix 22 | (MTFWP Claim Number 76L 153988-00 to be Co-Owned by Tribes) |
| Appendix 23 | (USFWS Wetland Abstracts and Maps) |
| Appendix 24 | (USFWS Claims to be Co-Owned by Tribes) |
| Appendix 25 | (Kootenai Mainstem Instream Flow Right Abstract) |
| Appendix 26 | (Swan Mainstem Instream Flow Right Abstract) |
| Appendix 27 | (Lower Clark Fork Mainstem Instream Flow Right Abstract) |
| Appendix 28 | (MTFWP Claims to be Decreed as Part of the Compact) |
| Appendix 29 | (MTFWP Claims Not to be Decreed as Part of the Compact) |
| Appendix 30 | (Former Milltown Dam Instream Flow Abstracts) |
| Active/Current Versions of Milltown Instream Flow Abstracts | |
| Appendix 31 | (Former Milltown Dam Instream Flow Enforceable Level Technical Document) |
| Appendix 32 | (2004 DNRC-MTFWP Painted Rocks Contract) |
| Appendix 33 | (1958 Painted Rocks Contract Including Amendment) |
| Appendix 34 | (1994 MTFWP-BOR Lake Como Contract) |
| Appendix 35 | (Placid Creek Instream Flow Right Abstract and Map) |
| Appendix 36 | (Kootenai River Tributary Instream Flow Abstracts) |
| Appendix 37 | (Flathead Reservation Unitary Water Management Board Forms) |
| Appendix 38 | (Flathead Proposed Preliminary Decree) |
- CSKT-Montana Compact vs. CSKT Claims
- The Story of Montana's Reserved Water Right Compacts
