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Vol. 18, No. 44
July 20, 2022
Water management board authorizes new wells, answers questions By Kristi Niemeyer for the Valley Journal
Lake pg.5
Powwow pg.14
Music pg.16
RONAN — The Flathead Reservation Water Management Board is making headway through a stack of domestic well applications, thanks to an interim application process developed this spring. The five-member board meets regularly at the Office of the Engineer, located in the former Masonic Lodge in Ronan, or via Zoom. The interim applications that are now available are required for those planning to drill wells or develop springs for domestic allowances. A second form, which became available July 1, is for those who drilled wells between Sept. 17 (the date the water compact between tribal, state and federal governments became effective) and June 1, and must be submitted to the water board by Sept. 29. Currently, the forms are available at the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation website (dnrc.mt.gov/
KRISTI NIEMEYER
Chair Clayton Matt, board members Georgia Smies, Ken Pitt and Roger Noble authorized 72 of 99 domestic well applications during a June meeting of the Flathead Reservation Water Management Board at the office in Ronan.
divisions/water/water-compact-implementation-program/confederated-salish-and-kootenai-tribes-compact/ interim-process-for-certain-water-rights) or from the office, 400 Main St. SW in Ronan. As of last Thursday, 99 applications had been received since the June 1 opening date and the board has voted to authorize 72 of those. At
the meeting July 21, the Compact Implementation Team plans to present at least 16 more applications for board approval. The board, at the recommendation of its human resources subcommittee, has winnowed five applications for water engineer to three, and plans to interview those candidates before Aug. 1 according to spokesman
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Rob McDonald. The board is now advertising for a compliance tech/ administrative assistant. When fully staffed, the office will also include a water resource specialist. The board also plans to select a logo from among a dozen designs submitted by the public (submissions may be viewed on the DNRC website). The next step is to build a website that will pro-
vide more direct access to forms and meeting info. Zoom links to future meetings, as well as recordings of previous meetings, are currently available at the DNRC and CSKT websites. Yet, even with substantial progress since the board first convened in January, some reservation residents are stuck in administrative limbo, with issues neither the compact board nor the DNRC are currently able to resolve. At a meeting June 30, the board heard from Tom Stockton and Duane Smith, co-trustees charged with settling Donna Smith’s revocable trust. When the family purchased the property in 1999, they understood it to have water rights dating back to 1977. But when they sought a property-line adjustment from the Department of Environmental Quality nine months ago, they discovered that the DNRC does not consider the property to have a valid water right for domestic use, since the well was
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