U.S. SENATE (NMB) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester introduced the historic Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Compact in the U.S. Senate.
The Compact will ratify the FBIC water rights settlement with the State of Montana, establish resources for critical water infrastructure development, provide for Tribal and non-Tribal irrigation rights, and return sacred FBIC lands to federal trust.
The Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2019 will provide nearly $630 million to improve infrastructure and economic development for the Tribe and provide the efficiency of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Milk River Project, which furnishes water for the irrigation of about 121,000 acres of Tribal and non-Tribal land. The bill will also restore tribal management to over 58,500 acres of state and federal land for the Tribe.
