Federal Water Projects 



There are five federal water projects in the Clark Fork 

 Basin. Information on these projects is summarized in Table 

 2-6. 



The largest is the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project 

 (FIIP) , an irrigation and power project located on the 

 Flathead Indian Reservation. The FIIP has been operated by 

 the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) since 1910. A number of 

 problems have been associated with the project, and in 1984, 

 the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and the BIA were requested by 

 Secretary of the Interior William Clark "to conduct a 

 comprehensive examination of the Flathead Irrigation Project, 

 to document outstanding problems, and to recommend corrective 

 measures." According to the BOR and BIA (1985), water use 

 conflicts between Indians and non-Indians exist on the 

 Flathead Indian Reservation. The Confederated Salish and 

 Kootenai Tribes feel that they have the legal authority to 

 assume management and operation of the FIIP, that the project 

 must comply with established tribal law and procedures, and 

 that the project should remain under the management of BIA, 

 Conversely, the non-Indian water users represented by the 

 Flathead Joint Board have indicated a strong desire to manage 

 and operate the project themselves. 



The BOR and BIA concluded that the FIIP and non-Indian 

 water users will be affected by the quantification of Indian 

 reserved water rights, on and off the reservation. The 

 impact may significantly alter the existing operations of the 

 project, and there may be insufficient water to maintain the 

 existing level of irrigation. 



The project also faces a basic financial problem. The 

 water users cannot adequately fund the operation and 

 maintenance of the storage and distribution system. This 

 situation exists in spite of the fact that power revenues are 

 used to repay the original irrigation construction. Any 

 increases in water user assessments need to be applied to 

 improve the operation and maintenance of the irrigation 

 system. However, additional fee assessments to fund 

 desperately needed rehabilitation work are beyond the 

 financial capability of the water users. The deterioration 

 of the irrigation facilities is such that, without rehabili- 

 tation, portions of the system will soon stop functioning 

 (BOR and BIA 1985) . 



2-8 



