Montana Tribes Restore Waterways Through Sovereignty
Why this is here: The CSKT-MT Compact recognizes the tribes’ reserved and aboriginal water rights, protecting both existing water users and crucial tribal cultural and religious practices along the Jocko River.
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) are using their sovereign rights to restore waterways impacted by agriculture and industrialization in Montana. For over a century, the Jocko River watershed suffered from disconnection and damage. A 2015 water rights compact, effective in 2021, reauthorized tribal water rights established by the 1855 Hellgate Treaty.
The tribes lost access to traditional resources after the treaty and the 1887 Dawes Act opened reservation land to settlers. The CSKT fought for quantifiable water rights, ultimately leading to the compact which recognizes existing tribal cultural and religious practices. The agreement allows for co-management of water resources using both Western science and tribal knowledge.
Restoration efforts, funded in part by an $187 million settlement from the ARCO lawsuit, focus on reconnecting the Jocko River to its floodplain and improving irrigation infrastructure. The CSKT also established the Lower Flathead River as a cultural waterway in 2021, protecting its natural state.