State, feds reach deal about water

The Daily Inter Lake

Open house, meeting scheduled Tuesday in Libby and Kalispell

After nearly 15 years of negotiation, the state and federal government have reached a draft settlement on how much water the U.S. Forest Service is entitled to in Montana.

The agreement, which still needs to be approved by Congress and the Montana Legislature, affects multiple watersheds across the state, including dozens in Flathead and Lincoln counties.

A series of public meetings and open houses will be held this month throughout Montana to give people an opportunity to learn more about the agreement and comment on the proposal.

The first open house takes place from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall in Libby.

That will be followed by a public meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Red Lion Kalispell Center Hotel on Main Street in Kalispell.

The open house will be a more informal event, with stations set up at which people can ask questions of technical specialists. The public meeting will include a presentation, question-and-answer session and comment period.

The draft agreement or compact basically establishes a water right for the Forest Service, detailing how much water to which the agency is entitled in various national forests. The water could be used for firefighting and administrative purposes, such as ranger stations or road-dust control.

The priority date for these water rights range from 1897 to 1928, reflecting the time at which each forest unit was created.

The compact also outlines how much water would be set aside for wildlife and wildlife habitat in 77 stream basins, including more than two dozen in Lincoln County.

These "instream flow" water rights range from 1.5 to 250 cubic feet per second, depending on the stream. In some cases, they could be large enough to preclude appropriations for other landowners.

The priority date for these water rights would be the effective date of the compact, which would be sometime next year. Landowners with senior water rights would not be affected.

The compact also gives the Forest Service the opportunity to apply for additional instream water rights in other basins in the national forest system. Changes will also be proposed to state law that would address the agency's ability to object to any water-right claim on or crossing national forest lands that might adversely affect its interests.

Copies of the draft agreement, and a map showing the affected watersheds and an executive summary, are available on the Montana Department of Natural Resources Web site, www.dnrc.mt.gov.

Written comments on the proposal are due by Nov. 27. They can be mailed to RWRCC, 1625 11th Ave., Helena, MT 59620, or e-mailed to dnrrwrcc@mt.gov.