The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead 

 Reservation 



The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in Lake, 

 Sanders, Flathead, and Missoula counties, consists of 

 1,242,969 acres, over half of which is tribal or individual 

 trust land. The population on the reservation is approxi- 

 mately 4,550 Indians and 16,000 non-Indians. The BIA, on 

 behalf of the Tribes, made claims for Indian water rights, 

 all appropriative water rights previously acquired, and water 

 rights appurtenant to lands owned by the Confederated Salish 

 and Kootenai Tribes as required by the statewide adjudica- 

 tion. The generic claims are for "all water arising upon, 

 flowing by, through, or under the reservation, necessary for 

 purposes of the reservation. . .as of the date of the reserva- 

 tion, and/or from time immemorial based on the tribe's 

 aboriginal ownership of the lands and waters that now 

 comprise the reservation, whichever is earlier." The BIA has 

 also submitted claims for instream flows in the Flathead 

 Basin necessary to protect the Tribes' aboriginal rights 

 recognized and guaranteed pursuant to the treaty of Hellgate, 

 Montana, July 16, 1855. A major concern of non-Indians on 

 this reservation is the effect the tribal water rights will 

 have on non-Indian water rights and uses associated with the 

 Flathead Indian Irrigation Project. 



The tribes have met a few times with the Reserved Water 

 Rights Compact Commission over the past ten years, but little 

 progress has been made. The Compact Commission has made no 

 attempt to meet with the Confederated Tribes since 1985 

 because of the legislature's directive to focus the adjudica- 

 tion on the Milk River Basin. 



Although the Tribes have chosen to proceed with 

 negotiation of their reserved rights, litigation in federal 

 court has occurred over their claimed water rights. 



In 1985 the Tribes determined that drought conditions 

 would diminish flows and decrease water levels in the 

 reseirvation's rivers and reservoirs. The Tribes sought to 

 prevent irreparable damage to the tribal fisheries by 

 enjoining the BIA from distributing waters to the Flathead, 

 Mission, and Jocko Irrigation Districts in such a manner as 

 to deplete the streams and reservoirs. The Joint Board of 

 the Flathead, Mission, and Jocko Irrigation Districts (Joint 

 Board) intervened. After the Federal District Court issued a 

 temporary restraining order in the favor of the Tribes, the 

 parties entered into a stipulation that established minimum 

 streamflows and reservoir water levels for the 1985 irriga- 

 tion season and set the procedure for establishing future 

 minimum flows and water levels. The case was later dismissed 

 as moot. 



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