It’s a new year, but water remains one of the most urgent issues facing Montana. Water access is likely to define future development, as with the former ASARCO rights in East Helena and the exempt well troubles in Red Fox Meadows and other subdivisions.
In December, retired water rights attorney Stan Bradshaw sat down with The Monitor to discuss all this and much more. A former attorney for Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and for Trout Unlimited, Bradshaw literally wrote the “Buyer’s Guide to Montana’s Water Rights.” He also successfully argued before the state’s supreme court that the public had the right to use water for recreation, regardless of who owned the streambed, crafted Montana’s Stream Access Law and helped reform in-stream flow legislation.
In part one of our interview, Bradshaw laid out some of the essential definitions and key concerns in today’s water discussion. In part two he dives even deeper into the complex and contradictory state of water rights in Montana, explaining water as a dwindling resource, the drawn out process of water adjudication, and what the future may look like.
