NEZ PERCE TRIBE

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

P.O. BOX 365 Lapwai, ID 83540

Snake River Currents

September  2004, Volume 4 Issue 9

 Weather Outlook for September
(supplied by CRITFC Weather Wizard Kyle Martin).

For September, expect above normal temperatures (+1- +2  deg. F) and  below normal precipitation (70 –90% of normal). 

Proposed Settlement of the Tribe’s Water Right Claims on September General Council Agenda

The General Council of the Nez Perce Tribe will hear a presentation from the NPTEC and the SRBA Team on the proposed settlement of the Tribe’s water right claims in the SRBA.  General Council is scheduled to meet September 23-25 in Lapwai.  The SRBA discussion will take place on Saturday the 25th at 8:30 am and is information only, no decisions about accepting or rejecting the settlement will be made.  However, the decision making process is expected to be a key topic of discussion.  All tribal members are encouraged to attend and to bring questions for the NPTEC and SRBA Team.

SRBA Legislation Update

The Tribe’s legal representatives who are involved with the federal legislation regarding the proposed settlement of the Tribe’s water right claims– Steve Moore of the Native American Rights Fund and Cindy Darcy of Dorsey and Whitney (the Tribe’s lobbyist in Washington D.C.) -are working diligently to ensure that final consideration of Senate Bill S2605 by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will occur by September 22, 2004.  Companion legislation introduced in the House by Congressman Otter (HB 4981) has not had a hearing scheduled at this time.  HB 4981 has two additional provisions not contained in the Senate Bill which will require the differences in the two bills to be resolved.  The SRBA Term Sheet dictates that federal and state legislation, plus tribal approval must occur by March 31, 2006. 

City of Kooskia, Idaho Farm Bureau Opposed to Proposed Settlement of the Tribe’s Water Right Claims.

Citing concerns such as the establishment of tribal water rights, transfer of BLM land to the Tribe, the Endangered Species Act and the cost of the proposed deal, the City of Kooskia adopted a resolution opposing the settlement of the Tribe’s water right claims.  The mayor of Kooskia, John Shurbon, is also the head of the North Central Idaho Jurisdictional Alliance.

The Idaho Farm Bureau also has come out against the settlement.  The Farm Bureau believes the Term Sheet contains elements that conflict with Farm Bureau Policies.  These policies include: 1) Opposition to all flow augmentation for fish, in this case, the 427,000 acre-feet of water from Bureau of Reclamation Reservoirs in the Upper Snake River that would be used to flush juvenile salmon to the ocean.; 2)Opposition to NOAA Fisheries administration of the Endangered Species Act in Idaho.; 3) Opposition to the establishment of instream flows; 4) Opposition to restricting state and private forestry practices; and 5) Opposition to increasing minimum stream flows unless additional storage is built to supply priority needs first.

Despite the opposition from the City of Kooskia and the Idaho Farm Bureau, the State of Idaho, led by the Governor’s Office, is working  to build support for the proposed settlement and has been actively lobbying its constituents  by describing the merits of the deal.   

Conservationists, Feds, State of Idaho Reach Agreement on Water Rights for Wild and Scenic Rivers in Idaho.

A court case concerning the water rights for the federally designated Wild and Scenic sections of the Selway, Lochsa, Middle Fork of the Salmon, Salmon, Clearwater and Rapid Rivers was announced in August and filed in the SRBA Court.  The agreement accomplishes the following:

1. Prevents out-of-basin transfers of water from the rivers.

2. Locks in minimum stream flows for each of the rivers.

3.  Protects high-water flows in each of the streams which are necessary for maintaining the ecological health of rivers.

4.  Requires the State to actively protect the Wild and Scenic water right.

The settlement was reached after nearly two years of negotiations between conservationists, the state, the federal government, and agricultural and mining interests.  Bill Sedivy, Executive Director for Idaho Rivers United stated in a press release: “While the agreement is not perfect, the settlement does accomplish significant protections for some of Idaho’s most magnificent rivers, for river recreation, and the salmon and steelhead and other native species that call these watersheds home.  In protecting these six great rivers for our children and grandchildren, we have also protected the human, animal and plant communities that depend on them.”  (Source: www.idahorivers.org)

The instream flows established under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act do not affect the instream flows that would be set through the proposed settlement of the Tribe’s claims.  The Wild and Scenic flows will be additional water.

Snake River Currents is published by Greg Haller, SRBA Coordinator for the Nez Perce Tribe Department of Natural Resources.  For information regarding this newsletter, please contact Greg at (208) 208-843-7368 ext. 2612.  For additional information about the SRBA and the proposed settlement of the Tribe’s claims, please contact Heidi Gudgell, SRBA attorney for the Nez Perce Tribe Office of Legal Council at (208) 208-843-7355 ext. 2381.

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