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10-3-1978

Water-use system is unfinished business for

University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations

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Recommended Citation University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations, "Water-use system is unfinished business for Montana Legislature" (1978). University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present. 29606. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/newsreleases/29606

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IMMEDIATELY WATER-USE SYSTEM IS UNFINISHED lenihan/jg BUSINESS FOR MONTANA LEGISLATURE 10/3/78 dailies MISSOULA—

A possible water-use preference system remains a major item of unfinished

business for upcoming sessions of the Montana Legislature, according to Robert

Eagle of the University of Montana political science department.

Writing in the autumn issue of the Montana Business Quarterly, published

Sept. 29 by UM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research and School of Business

Administration, Eagle reviews the ’s water rights management program up to the present.

The article also assesses the Montana Water Moratorium Act, which has temporarily delayed decisions regarding water appropriations of the Yellowstone

River, and the reservations currently before the Board of Natural

Resources and Conservation.

According to Eagle, implicit in the reservation requests are potential conflicts among different water users." These requests include those for municipal, industrial, agricultural and recreational uses, and presently total more than the average streamflow of the Yellowstone River. Adding to this issue's complexity are 's claim to the river under the Yellowstone River Compact, and the stream- flow claims of both the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes.

Eagle emphasizes that "the responsibility for resolving these and other conflicting demands for water use rests with the seven Montanans serving on the

Board of Natural Resources and Conservation. In deciding water reservation requests, the Board will have to set priorities among the various possible uses of water in the Yellowstone Basin."

-more- WATER-USE SYSTEM IS UNFINISHED BUSINESS FOR MONTANA LEGISLATURE— page 2

The expiration date for the Moratorium Act is Jan. 15, 1979. The upcoming session of the Montana Legislature will determine if it should be extended.

Since Montana’s potential water users come under the jurisdiction of several state agencies, "the fragmented responsibility of Montana state government in these interrelated areas makes truly comprehensive and coordinated decision-making difficult.” But, Eagle concludes, "despite these difficulties, some major steps have been taken to move Montana water resources policy away from the old loose, decentralized, incremental system toward a more comprehensive approach."

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