Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Compact
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Flathead Lake
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes – Montana Compact is a water rights agreement between the State of Montana, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) and the United States. After more than a decade of negotiations, the Compact resolves CSKT’s reserved water right claims and creates a joint state-tribal system for administering water rights on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The story map on the right side of this page provides an overview of the CSKT Compact.
September 17, 2021 serves as the Effective Date of the Compact. On the Effective Date the Unitary Administration and Management Ordinance (Ordinance) took effect, and the Flathead Reservation Water Management Board (“Board”) was established. This Board is a regulatory body comprised of members appointed by both the State of Montana and CSKT and is the authority for all water right permitting and changes within the Flathead Indian Reservation in perpetuity.
Please go to our Flathead Reservation Water Management Board (Board) page for more information about the Board’s meetings.
Please go to the Updates and Recent News page for updated information about the Board’s administration of water on the Reservation and other news.
Implementation Underway
With the Compact in effect, the State of Montana and CSKT are providing technical assistance to the Board, the Office of the Engineer, and the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project. For a list and timeline of compact implementation tasks on the horizon, see appendix 3.4 below.
The Compact Implementation Technical Team (CITT) consists of one member each from the State, the Federal government, CSKT, the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project (Project), and the Irrigators served by the Project. CITT advises the operator of the Project on implementation of operational improvements, rehabilitation and betterment of Project facilities, and adaptive management as required by the Compact.
See our Frequently Asked Questions (October 19, 2021) document for more information about the Compact.
Compact Resources
State Ratified Compact: 85-20-1901 MCA
The water rights compact entered into by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, the State of Montana, and the United States of America to settle all existing claims to water of or on behalf of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes within the State of Montana.
State Ratified Unitary Administration & Management Ordinance 85-20-1902
The Unitary Administration & Management Ordinance (Ordinance) governs all water rights administration on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The Ordinance controls all aspects of water use, including permitting of new uses, changes to existing uses, enforcement of water right calls, and all aspects of enforcement within the exterior boundaries of the Flathead Indian Reservation.
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) |
- The CSKT Water Compact Has Been Enacted
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- CSKT-Montana Compact vs. CSKT Claims
- The Story of Montana's Reserved Water Right Compacts
