Salmon Report

The spring chinook run is off to a dismal start this year. To date, only 1000 fish have passed Bonneville Dam.

Weather Outlook for May

For May, expect seasonally warm temperatures and below normal precipitation.

Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee Votes in Favor of SRBA Settlement

After years of litigation and negotiation, the NPTEC voted to accept the settlement of the Tribe’s water right claims in the Snake River Basin Adjudication. The decision, which had to be made by March 31, came after hours of emotional testimony by the over 60 tribal members present in the Richard Halfmoon Chambers during the NPTEC session.

The United States Congress had approved the settlement in the 2005 Omnibus Bill last November. The federal legislation is known as the Snake River Water Rights Act of 2004. The State Legislature passed three separate bills ratifying the settlement in late March.

Next Steps

Now that the settlement has been approved, the parties have filed a joint motion to the Idaho Supreme Court (where the Tribe appealed the instream flow ruling made by Judge Wood) to remand the appeal to the SRBA Court. The Shoshone Bannock Tribes have objected to the remand which will delay, but not derail the final order and judgment of the SRBA Court. When the appeal is remanded , the parties will file a proposed Consent Decree with the SRBA Court. The SRBA Court will likely grant a 60 day objection period and could hold hearings on the Consent Decree. Because a settlement has been reached by the parties, it is very likely that eh SRBA Court will eventually enter the Consent Decree.

For the settlement to take effect and have the force of law, the Secretary of the Interior must find that all the provisions of the settlement have been met, including the final Consent Decree. The Governor of Idaho and the Chairman of the NPTEC must also certify that all terms and conditions have been met. Attorneys for the Tribe predict that this process could take one to two years before the SRBA settlement could be implemented.

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) 843-7368 ext. 2612. For additional information about the SRBA and settlement of the Tribe’s water right claims, please contact Heidi Gudgell, SRBA attorney for the Nez Perce Tribe Office of Legal Council at (208) 843-7355 ext. 2381.

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