StoryMap: Milltown Water Right
On the new site, DEWR’s ArcGIS StoryMaps sit inside the page they belong to, with a text summary for visitors who can’t use the map.
Open the Milltown Water Right StoryMap
Placeholder for the embedded StoryMap.
Home / Water Compact
The CSKT-Montana Water Compact
A Tribal-State-Federal agreement that quantifies and protects the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ federally reserved water rights under the 1855 Hellgate Treaty. DEWR was established to carry it out.
- 1855
Hellgate Treaty
The Treaty reserves the water rights of the Séliš, Ql̓ispé and Ksanka people that the Compact later quantifies.
- 2015
Montana ratifies the Compact
In April 2015 the Montana Legislature ratified the Compact, establishing on- and off-Reservation water rights, including the Milltown instream flow right co-owned with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
- 2021
Compact takes effect
After approval by the Tribes, Montana, Congress and the Secretary of the Interior, the Compact became effective on September 17, 2021, and the Flathead Reservation Water Management Board became the regulator for water rights on the Reservation.
- 2026
Water Court approval
On May 12, 2026 the Montana Water Court approved the Compact. The final decree confirms the Tribes’ water rights and the legal framework for administering them.