The Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes are using the Water Compact settlement to restore the Crow Creek Pumping Plant, which will benefit irrigators in Charlo and conserve water by this October.  

“With the modernization of the facility, we're able to address those concerns and provide not only benefits to irrigators, but to the natural resources,” said Casey Ryan, the CSKT Division of Engineering and Water Resources manager. 

The pumping plant located off Johnson Road has been in disarray for an unknown number of years and was not hydraulically efficient. The approximately $8 million project will include a new concrete diversion structure with a fish passage, along with a new pump intake system and a new pump house.  

The new pump will have a canal that supplies off-season water to a reservoir, allowing the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project to capture water during the off-season. It will double the previous capacity, and this major enhancement and modernization will enable significant improvements in flexibility, according to  

It also has the potential to increase storage capacity in Ninepipes Reservoir to provide irrigation to the Charlo area, which includes about 28,000 irrigated acres. 

Funding for this project comes from the $1.9 billion CSKT Water Compact settlement, which was approved by the Tribes in 2020. The compact is a tribal-state-federal agreement to fulfill water rights for the Salish, Kalispell, and Kootenai people as guaranteed by the 1855 Hellgate Treaty.  

The compact became effective in 2021 and was accompanied by a financial settlement. CSKT is using this settlement to repair the FIIP’s infrastructure and complete restoration projects around the valley. The Flathead Indian Irrigation Project is owned and operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

The pumping plant overhaul was initiated and is overseen by CSKT’s Division of Engineering and Water Resources—which was expanded to implement the Water Compact—and Prospect Construction is doing the contract work. Construction started last fall and will be completed in October.    

The pump house will draw water from Crow Creek and supply it to the Charlo area. It’s also located below the confluence of North Crow Creek and Ronan Spring Creek, which will allow FIIP to tap those sources of water as well, Ryan said. 

Multiple water sources, including Mission Creek, Post Creek and smaller tributaries to these streams, currently supply Charlo’s irrigation water.  

Water being pumped out will flow through a 48-inch pipeline that stretches about 3,700 feet to a siphon underneath the railroad tracks. The pipeline helps ensure every drop of water is transported, according to Mark Simpson, the irrigation infrastructure program manager.  

Simpson said that over the last several years of construction, CSKT has invested approximately $70 million to $75 million in irrigation infrastructure.