Legislators are invited to an informational session Saturday in Helena on the revised water rights compact for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

State Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, said he hopes the meeting will provide representatives the opportunity to have their questions answered and learn more about the controversial legislation, a similar version of which failed during the previous session.

“It’s an informational session with a lot of folks I’ve been working with over the past several months making some of the revisions to the compact,” Vincent said. “This is an opportunity for legislators to carry their questions in and interface with those that are experts in their fields, from several different scientific disciplines.”

The information session will be at 10 a.m. in Room 303 of the Capitol building in Helena. The meeting is public but will not include an opportunity for the public to comment. A panel of four legislators who have worked on the compact will provide an overview of the proposal and then answer questions from lawmakers.

The subject of more than 10 years of negotiations and public debate, the water rights compact aims to quantify the tribes’ water rights while spending $55 million to upgrade the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project and cover related expenses of the agreement. The compact won final approval last month by the state commission that drafted it, then it was referred to the Legislature. 

Vincent on Tuesday introduced the bill in the Senate. If it is approved there, it will be transmitted to the House, where it died in committee in 2013 and is expected to face a tougher political climate. Gov. Steve Bullock has consistently supported the revised compact.

Vincent said that if citizens want to have their questions about the compact answered, they should contact their representatives directly. While he said he is proud to lead on the issue, he was quick to note the complicated nature of the issue addressed by the 140-page bill draft.

“This policy proposal is quite possibly one of the most complex political decisions that any legislator will have to have made, as far as educating themselves and be able to understand this thing in its entirety.”

Should the state ratify the proposed water rights compact, it will still need to pass Congress and be ratified by the tribes.

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