Description: <div style="text-align:Left;"><p><strong>Overview</strong></p><p>This feature class shows the geographic areas where the State of Montana, through the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), has ongoing reporting or notification obligations under water rights compacts negotiated by the Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission (RWRCC) on behalf of the Governor and ratified in Title 85, Chapter 20 of the Montana Code Annotated (MCA). Under these compacts, the State agreed to tell the tribal and/or federal parties about water rights it issues or modifies under state law in areas where those actions could affect the reserved water rights each compact quantifies.</p><p>Each polygon represents the area where one compact's reporting provision applies. Depending on the compact, a reporting area may follow hydrologic basin or watershed boundaries, Indian reservation or federal reserved-land boundaries, or a combination of both. A reservation-based reporting area therefore often extends beyond the reservation boundary to include upstream or adjacent drainages affected by the compact.</p><p><strong>How the data is used</strong></p><p>DNRC staff use these polygons to select water rights whose points of diversion or places of use fall within a reporting area. The selection supports periodic compact reports, which may include:</p><ul><li>New permits to appropriate water and certificates of water right issued by DNRC</li><li>Changes in use (and transfers) approved by DNRC</li><li>Ownership updates processed in the DNRC water rights database (for example, under the Blackfeet compact)</li><li>New uses commenced under state law, and related notices (for example, under the Fort Peck and Northern Cheyenne compacts)</li></ul><p>What has to be reported, how often, and to whom differs by compact. The table below summarizes the governing provision for each reporting area. The compact text in the MCA is the controlling authority.</p><p><strong>Reporting areas and governing compact provisions</strong></p><table border="1" cellpadding="4" style="border-collapse:collapse; font-size:12px;"><tbody><tr><th>Reporting area (Name)</th><th>Compact (MCA)</th><th>Reporting provision</th><th>Frequency</th><th>Recipient</th><th>Geographic scope in compact</th></tr></tbody><tbody><tr><td>Blackfeet Compact Reporting Area</td><td>Blackfeet Tribe-Montana-United States Compact (<a href="https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0850/chapter_0200/part_0150/section_0010/0850-0200-0150-0010.html">85-20-1501</a>)</td><td>Art. IV.I.4: listing of Excepted Rights with a certificate or permit issued, Changes in Use approved, and an ownership update for each water right whose owner of record changed in DNRC's database. Art. IV.G.2 also requires timely notice of every change application within the Reservation.</td><td>Annual</td><td>Blackfeet Tribe and United States</td><td>Within the Reservation and in drainages affected by the Compact</td></tr><tr><td>Crow Compact Reporting Area</td><td>Crow Tribe-Montana Compact (<a href="https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0850/chapter_0200/part_0090/section_0010/0850-0200-0090-0010.html">85-20-901</a>)</td><td>Art. IV.E.1: listing of all uses of surface flow, groundwater, or storage for which a certificate or permit was issued or a change in use or transfer was approved</td><td>Annual</td><td>Crow Tribe and United States (BIA Billings Area Office)</td><td>Within the Reservation, the Ceded Strip, and drainages affected by the Compact</td></tr><tr><td>Chippewa-Cree Reporting Area</td><td>Chippewa Cree Tribe-Montana Compact (<a href="https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0850/chapter_0200/part_0060/section_0010/0850-0200-0060-0010.html">85-20-601</a>)</td><td>Art. IV reporting requirements (5.a): listing of new surface and groundwater uses permitted, and changes in use or transfers approved, since the last report</td><td>Annual</td><td>Chippewa Cree Tribe and United States</td><td>Big Sandy Creek and Beaver Creek drainages</td></tr><tr><td>Northern Cheyenne Compact Reporting Area</td><td>Northern Cheyenne-Montana Compact (<a href="https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0850/chapter_0200/part_0030/section_0010/0850-0200-0030-0010.html">85-20-301</a>)</td><td>Art. III.C.3: notice of all new surface and groundwater uses permitted, and new uses actually commenced under state law, during the preceding quarter, in the format of Art. III.C.2</td><td>Quarterly (within 60 days after quarter end)</td><td>Northern Cheyenne Tribe</td><td>Tongue River and Rosebud Creek basins</td></tr><tr><td>Fort Peck Compact Reporting Area</td><td>Fort Peck-Montana Compact (<a href="https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0850/chapter_0200/part_0020/section_0010/0850-0200-0020-0010.html">85-20-201</a>)</td><td>Art. III.C.2: notice of all new surface and groundwater uses permitted, and new uses actually commenced under state law, during the preceding quarter</td><td>Quarterly (within 60 days after quarter end)</td><td>Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes</td><td>Missouri River mainstem below Fort Peck Dam and all Missouri River tributaries that flow through or next to the Reservation, except the Milk River mainstem</td></tr><tr><td>USFWS Benton Lake Compact Reporting Area</td><td>USFWS Black Coulee and Benton Lake-Montana Compact (<a href="https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0850/chapter_0200/part_0070/section_0010/0850-0200-0070-0010.html">85-20-701</a>)</td><td>Art. III.E.4: changes in use upstream of or within reserved land; streamflow, diversion, and well-use data; groundwater certificates issued; stock-water pond permits issued</td><td>Annual (December 1–31)</td><td>United States</td><td>Lake Creek Watershed, including unnamed tributaries of Benton Lake (Art. III.A.1)</td></tr><tr><td>USFWS Black Coulee Compact Reporting Area</td><td>USFWS Black Coulee and Benton Lake-Montana Compact (85-20-701)</td><td>Same as above</td><td>Annual (December 1–31)</td><td>United States</td><td>Black Coulee Watershed (Art. III.A.1)</td></tr><tr><td>BLM Wild &amp; Scenic Compact Reporting Area</td><td>United States Bureau of Land Management-Montana Compact (<a href="https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0850/chapter_0200/part_0050/section_0010/0850-0200-0050-0010.html">85-20-501</a>)</td><td>Art. III.G.2: Annual Report on DNRC's administration of the Available Water Supply (AWS), covering appropriations that deplete it</td><td>Annual (by March 1)</td><td>Bureau of Land Management</td><td>Missouri River basin upstream of where the Missouri River leaves the Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River</td></tr><tr><td>NPS Compact - Yellowstone Reporting Area</td><td>United States National Park Service-Montana Compact (<a href="https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0850/chapter_0200/part_0040/section_0010/0850-0200-0040-0010.html">85-20-401</a>)</td><td>Art. II.J.8: changes in use upstream of or within reserved land; new permits issued; streamflow, diversion, and well-use data on or tributary to Category 3 or 4 streams. Art. IV also sets notice and reporting duties for the Yellowstone Controlled Groundwater Area.</td><td>Annual (December 1–31)</td><td>United States</td><td>Water rights upstream of or within Yellowstone National Park in Montana</td></tr><tr><td>NPS Compact - Glacier National Park Reporting Area</td><td>NPS-Montana Compact (85-20-401)</td><td>Art. II.J.8 (as above)</td><td>Annual (December 1–31)</td><td>United States</td><td>Water rights upstream of or within Glacier National Park</td></tr><tr><td>NPS Compact - Big Hole Battlefield Reporting Area</td><td>NPS-Montana Compact (85-20-401)</td><td>Art. II.J.8 (as above)</td><td>Annual (December 1–31)</td><td>United States</td><td>Water rights upstream of or within Big Hole National Battlefield (North Fork Big Hole River)</td></tr><tr><td>NPS Compact - Little Bighorn Battlefield Reporting Area</td><td>NPS-Montana Compact (85-20-401)</td><td>Art. II.J.8 (as above). Art. II.B.2.b.v also requires notice to the United States of proposed groundwater appropriations on the Little Bighorn River and its tributaries upstream of the monument.</td><td>Annual (December 1–31); application notices as they occur</td><td>United States</td><td>Little Bighorn River and tributaries upstream of Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument</td></tr><tr><td>NPS Compact - Bighorn Canyon NRA Closure</td><td>NPS-Montana Compact (85-20-401)</td><td>Art. II.J.8 (as above). Art. II.B.2.b.iv also requires notice to the United States of proposed groundwater appropriations for Bighorn Canyon NRA. [Confirm: the feature name says &quot;Closure&quot; rather than &quot;Reporting Area&quot;.]</td><td>Annual (December 1–31); application notices as they occur</td><td>United States</td><td>Water rights upstream of or within Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area</td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Important notes for users</strong></p><ul><li>Overlapping polygons: reporting areas overlap. For example, the BLM Wild &amp; Scenic area (Missouri River basin above the Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River) contains the Benton Lake and Big Hole Battlefield areas and parts of the Blackfeet and Glacier areas. The Bighorn Canyon NRA and Little Bighorn Battlefield areas lie inside the Crow area. One water right may need to be reported under more than one compact.</li><li>Not a legal boundary: these polygons are administrative tools for meeting compact reporting obligations. They do not define reservation boundaries, decreed basin boundaries, basin closures, or the extent of any tribal or federal reserved water right. Where the polygons and the compact text disagree, the compact text governs.</li><li>Coverage: the dataset includes only the compacts and reporting provisions listed above. Compacts with no geographically based water-right reporting obligation for DNRC, or with obligations handled outside this workflow, are not shown. The Yellowstone River Compact (MCA 85-20-101) was not negotiated by the RWRCC and is not represented.</li><li>AreaAcres is an approximate planimetric acreage for reference only.</li></ul><p><strong>Data sources and lineage</strong></p><p>Reporting area boundaries were compiled by DNRC Water Resources Division staff from the geographic descriptions in each compact. Sources include USGS/NRCS Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) hydrologic units, DNRC water right basin boundaries, Indian reservation boundaries, and federal reserved land boundaries (national park, monument, refuge, and Wild and Scenic River boundaries). Boundaries were edited where the compact language required it.</p><p>Coordinate system: NAD 1983 StatePlane Montana FIPS 2500 (Meters), WKID 32100.</p><p>This Portal item replaces the ArcGIS Server map service <a href="https://gis.dnrc.mt.gov/arcgis/rest/services/WRD/WMB_WaterRightCompactsReportingAreas/MapServer">WMB_WaterRightCompactsReportingAreas</a>, which will eventually be retired.</p><p><strong>More information</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://dnrc.mt.gov/Water-Resources/Compacts/">DNRC Compact Implementation Program</a></li><li><a href="https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0850/chapter_0200/parts_index.html">MCA Title 85, Chapter 20: Water Compacts</a></li><li>Contact: DNRC Water Resources Division, Compact Implementation Program</li></ul></div>
Service Item Id: de74cda78aca458ea9bd8f6ec9e55192
Copyright Text: The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) provides this product for informational purposes only. Data contained herein may not be suitable for legal, engineering or survey purposes. DNRC makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the accuracy or completeness of this data and assumes no responsibility of suitable use for any particular purpose. By any user's reliance on, dissemination of or reference to this data in whole or in part (use), the user has accepted all limitations of the product, including user's acknowledgement that all spatial data products are dynamic and may change without prior notice and any use is subject to that understanding. User acknowledges that the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is not liable for any damages incurred as a result of errors in this data and user acknowledges us at user's own risk and discretion.
For more information about this dataset, please contact our team: dnrcwrdgisrequests@mt.gov@mt.gov
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areaacres
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, description: {"fieldValueType":"countOrAmount","value":"Sum of the acres in each reporting area."}, type: esriFieldTypeDouble, modelName: areaacres, alias: Area Acres
)
name
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nullable: true, editable: true, defaultValue: null, length: 120, description: {"fieldValueType":"nameOrTitle","value":""}, type: esriFieldTypeString, modelName: name, alias: Reporting Area Name
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