A water rights compact for the Confederated and Salish and Kootenai Tribes has officially begun its march through the state Legislature after more than 10 years of debate and political wrangling.

Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, has introduced Senate Bill 262 to ratify the compact, which was sent to the Legislature last month by a state commission tasked with drafting the revised proposal.

A negotiated settlement intended to head off potentially wide-reaching water rights claims by the tribes, the compact is intended to provide assurances to the tribes and nontribal users of water flowing into the reservation.

The state has pushed the compact as a solution to legally murky competing claims for water rights across at least the Western half of Montana. Compact opponents, particularly irrigators on or near the reservation, argue that the uncertainty of individual legal battles in state water courts is preferable to a deal that they say violates their constitutional protections and “gives away” water rights that should belong to Montanans.

Following the compact’s failure to pass the Legislature during the 2013 session, the state reopened negotiations with the tribes in 2014 to address the way water rights were quantified. The results of those negotiations and the recommendations of a legislative interim committee were incorporated into the revised compact, unveiled in January and sent to the Legislature less than a week later.

Some legislators have suggested the route to compact passage will be easier in the Senate, with the bill facing stronger opposition in the House. 

However, Senate Pres. Debby Barrett, R-Dillon, who voted as a member of the compact commission to forward the compact to the Legislature, said Tuesday that she will not be among the bill’s supporters.

“This isn’t a caucus bill; it’s a vote-your-conscience bill and I remain opposed to it,” she said. “The only thing I could say to other legislators is please read it, take the time to understand it, read all the appendices and vote your conscience.”

Barrett said one of the major sticking points for her included the Unitary Management Board, a component of the compact that she said eliminates a constitutional right of Montanans to petition the state for water administration and permitting purposes.

House Majority Leader Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, who opposed the prior version of the compact and was a member of the House committee that killed the bill in 2013, has indicated overall support for a negotiated agreement, but has not said whether he believes the revisions go far enough.

In a deal hammered out last month between Democrats and Republicans in the House, the rules allow for six instances in which either caucus can “blast” a bill from committee with a simple majority vote. Blast motions normally require a two-thirds vote and are used to force a floor vote on a bill that would otherwise die in committee. The House Judiciary Committee tabled the compact bill in 2013 and a subsequent blast motion failed on a 51-47 vote.

If the compact fails to get legislative approval, the tribes have said they will press their rights in a state water rights adjudication court, a move the compact’s proponents say could result in the loss of water rights for Montanans throughout the state. Unless the Legislature extends the deadline, the tribes are bound by law to file those claims by June 30.

Reporter Samuel Wilson may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com