COEUR d'ALENE - Earlier this year, the federal government filed 353 claims for water rights on behalf of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, which drew 85,000 objections by the close of the comment period this fall.

Meanwhile, in Spokane County, the Washington Department of Ecology is busy establishing minimum instream flows in the Spokane River to protect fish during the low-flow periods of summer.

During the Spokane River Forum, which resumes today at The Coeur d'Alene Resort, both the WDOE and the Tribe took time Wednesday morning to explain just what that means for the rest of the region.

Guy Gregory, of WDOE, said the comment period has closed on the proposed rule, and his department is moving forward to establish a flow of 850 cubic feet per second in a section of the river just west of downtown Spokane.

Gregory said establishing instream flow rights is the final step in an extensive watershed planning effort his agency has engaged for almost two decades.

"We have stressed the whole time that these are not political numbers - these are fish numbers," Gregory said, adding the agency did not reach a full consensus on the 850 cfs flow, but is proceeding with it.

He explained that the instream flow numbers do not guarantee there will be 850 cfs in the river during low flows, and the only affect it will have is on water rights issued after the instream flows are set.

Because the law says older water rights will be honored before younger water rights, the only time there would be an impact is if the 850 cannot be reached during low flow months, and junior rights could be interrupted until the flows increase.

"Instream flow rules do not affect river operations," Gregory explained. "These numbers represent what a healthy river looks like. If you want more than that, you have to go and do that locally."

After the state sets the instream flow, Gregory said, that is when his agency steps back and lets the locals manage the water.

"If you want to protect the flow for a recreational need - be that whitewater rafting or nude sunbathing, or whatever it may be - get involved. Get in the game with the rest of your community," he said, adding the people of Spokane have voted to continue their water planning efforts and that is where the focus should be.

Phil Cernera, natural resource director for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, also spoke on how the water rights requests in Idaho are working through the system.

Cernera said the Tribe considers the lake as the center of its universe, and it doesn't believe there is any ownership of the lake.

"This whole concept of water rights adjudication is pretty difficult for the Tribe to understand, at a gut level," he said, but added that the Tribe is also a savvy government and has the ability to engage in the process.

"The Tribe realized that they are in for a big, big fight," he said. "We all realize that these things can take 50 years, but hopefully we can engage in settlement and get through this in something like five years."

Megan Carter, with the Idaho Attorney General's Office, said her office has seen 85,000 objections to the Tribe's claims. Most of those came from members of associations that objected to the claims. She said each member is counted individually by the water court.

Cernera said the Tribe's priority dates to the creation of the reservation, so it will be first in time and first in right if there is ever a dispute over water.

That is one reason the Tribe is willing to sit down and negotiate through the process, Cernera said.

"The bottom line is that you have probably seen a lot of media over the past few months talking about thousands of claims and the Tribe taking all of the water," Cernera said. "Well that is absolutely not true. All total and within the reservation, we only claimed 7 percent of the water on the rez, and in our homeland we have claimed less than 1 percent, or .06 percent, so per capita it is not a big claim.

"In the end we don't think there is going to be a lot of controversy," he said. "The Tribe has always been a good neighbor and we are willing to sit down and discuss these claims."

He said the Tribe wants to proceed with settlement negotiations, and expects the process to start off a little rough but become smoother over time.

"There aren't a lot of problems here," he said, adding he expects to see a lot of the angst fade away.