Need to pass water compact

Do you have thousands of dollars sitting in your bank account? More importantly, do you have thousands of dollars sitting in your bank account that you have no better use for than paying an attorney to go to Water Court?

Hopefully, the answer to the former is yes and the latter is no because Montana’s water users — especially farmers, ranchers and irrigators — will be forced to bear the financial burden of the tremendous amount of litigation that will ensue if the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Compact doesn’t pass.

The CSKT compact defines the tribal water rights of the CSKT while simultaneously protecting existing water rights. However, without this agreement there will not only be thousands of new claims filed in the Montana Water Court but many of the basins that have been through the adjudication process (about 35) will be reopened.

The reopening of the adjudication on these basins alone will cost more than $70 million, and that’s not including the thousands of other claims that would be filed. Our elected officials in the Montana State Legislature need to pass the compact — we can’t afford the alternative.

Bridget Holland

Helena