WSP00897 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

o iJ 3 ij II . was authorized to negotiate agreements with respect to both federal and Indian reserved water rights in the state. Such agreements were to take final form as compacts to be ratified by the necessary parties - the state, tribal government, and Congress in the case of Indian water rights, and the state and Congress in the case of federal water rights. The law also stipulated that as long as negotiations with the tribes and federal government were progressing in good faith, proceedings under the state's adjudication process could be delayed until as late as July 1985. However, if ratification had not been achieved by that da te, federal and Indian claims would have to be filed under the adjudication process within 60 days. The 19l!2 deadline for filing water rights claims under Montana's water rights adjudication has passed. By mid-April 1983, the adjudication process was completed for two of the state's 85 river basins and at least 15 more basins were SCheduled for adjudication by the end of 1984. The process is reported as going smoothly considering the vast number of claims filed (Marseille, 1983). The negotiations regarding federal and Indian reserved water rights in Montana are also underway with most Indian tribes and several federal agencies. A proposed compact with the Fort Peck tribes was concluded but has not yet been submitted to the Montana Legislature for ratification. The Blackfeet Tribe has not entered into negotiations, but all remaining tribes in the Missouri River Basin, including the non-reservation Turtle Mountain Chippewa in northeast Montana, have begun the process. Similarly, formal negotiations have been opened with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior. Informal discussions have been held with the Department of Defense (Marseille, 1983). -29-