Crow Tribe in Montana gets approval for long-awaited agreement
Updated legislation supports water infrastructure on large reservation
Well over a year after the initial Senate reading for a Montana water bill in early 2025, the Crow Tribe finally saw its proposals signed into law on Oct. 15.
The Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2025 provides a new framework building on the 2010 water compact between the Crow and the state of Montana. Among the major new pieces of the law are updates to the Crow Reservation public water system and a five-year extension of the tribe’s exclusive right to develop a hydropower project at a dam on the Bighorn River.
The bill stalled from early March 2025 until that November, and then didn’t see any official progress made on its passage until September 2026. President Donald Trump received the bill on his desk on Oct. 5 and signed it into law 10 days later.
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