State Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, urged Flathead County commissioners Wednesday to take a stand against a proposed Flathead Reservation water rights compact.

Jackson said he will introduce a bill that will allow compact negotiations to continue for another two years.

A nine-member compact commission made up of tribal, federal and state representatives has been negotiating the compact for more than a decade, and the commission’s authority to negotiate is set to expire this July.

For that reason, the commission aims to send the compact to the state Legislature for approval in the next few months.

But Jackson and other critics of the compact told county commissioners it is flawed on several fronts and it is not ready for legislative consideration.

Jackson asked the commissioners to consider taking a stand on the compact, adding that “as it now stands, I can’t support it,” mainly because he said he believes it conflicts with state water laws and the state Constitution.

Terry Backs, a St. Ignatius-area resident and a member of the Concerned Citizens of Western Montana, said the compact and its appendices have been frequently amended, deleted or otherwise changed on the commission’s website, making it difficult for the public to discern its potential consequences.

“It’s kind of a moving target as far as the public being able to review this and understand it,” Backs said.

Catherine Vandemoer, a water specialist who is consulting for Concerned Citizens, presented a report to the commissioners outlining her concerns.

Vandemoer said the compact commission exceeded its authority by granting aboriginal or treaty water rights when it was tasked with adjudicating federal reserved water rights. That is a substantial conflict in itself, she said.

Under state water rights law, she explained, water rights are tied to property and uses on that property, but in this case, the tribes are being granted water rights that far exceed current or future water needs on the reservation.

“They need to quantify what is needed for water uses on the reservation,” she said.

She said the compact adjudicates 100 times more water to the tribes than has ever been awarded to other tribes through similar compact negotiations.

And she said the state members of the commission abandoned their constitutional responsibility to protect nontribal members on the reservation by not participating in negotiations over a Flathead Irrigation Project water use agreement that will, among other things, allot water to all irrigators on the reservation.

The agreement, which is currently held up in litigation being pursued by irrigators, is considered an important part of the overall compact.

Compact commission members have regularly defended the document by stressing that the tribes have relinquished their right to “make call” on water uses off the reservation, thereby protecting existing uses.

They also have stressed that a main purpose of the compact is to avoid costly and time consuming water rights litigation.

But as the irrigator litigation demonstrates, Jackson and Vandemoer contend that there will still be water rights lawsuits if the compact is approved by the Legislature, Congress, the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribal Council and Montana Water Court.

“I’m distressed that people are pushing this as ‘say yea’ or we will litigate,” Vandemoer said.

After hearing the comments, the three commissioners did not indicate whether they will take a formal position on the proposed compact.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.