Meetings slated on Blackfeet water settlement

Tuesday, November 13, 2007  

The Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission is holding public meetings on a proposed settlement with the Blackfeet Nation.

The deal calls for the tribe to take up to 50,000 acre-feet a year from the St. Mary River, as long as the allocation does not harm another water project. But a Bureau of Indian Affairs negotiator said the river can't support that much water.

Don Wilson, the water negotiator for the tribe, said the BIA "slammed the door in our face," The Great Falls Tribune reported.

The state and the tribe have been negotiating for more than 20 years, the paper said. The deal would need federal approval.

Get the Story:
Negotiations continue for water rights (The Great Falls Tribune 11/13)

$rl Blackfeet Nation - http://www.blackfeetnation.com
Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission - http://dnrc.mt.gov/rwrcc