Meet Our Board
The Water Management Board has six members. The Governor of the State of Montana, in consultation with local county commissioners, appoints two voting members. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Tribal Council appoints two voting members. The four appointed members select the fifth voting member. The Secretary of the Interior appoints a sixth, non-voting, member.
The Unitary Administration & Management Ordinance (Ordinance) directs the Board – which is a government entity. We regulate new uses of water, changes to existing uses of water, and enforce water rights. We employ a Water Engineer and other professional staff to conduct implement these operations.
Clayton Matt, Chairman
Appointed by the Tribes
Clayton Matt is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), Flathead Reservation, Montana. He is currently the Director of Tribal Resource Management. This position currently oversees six Tribal Departments. He has participated in various boards and commissions including the Flathead Basin Commission, the Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent and (NACEPT) the National Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology, an EPA commission. He served for ten years on the CSKT Appellate Court. Prior to being appointed to his current position, he was the Director of Tribal Services and previously the Department Head for the Natural Resource Department. He has held previous positions including, Water Administration Program Manager, Environmental Division Manager and the Water Rights Division Manager for the CSKT. He has been involved in water rights since 1982. He was the spokesperson for the Tribal water rights team. In 1995 he received a Master of Science in Water Resource Administration from the University of Arizona, Department of Hydrology. He is the current Chair of the Flathead Reservation Water Management Board.
Roger Noble, Vice Chairman
Appointed by MT
As a Registered Professional Geologist, Mr. Noble has more than 40 years of experience in water supply, water right permitting and groundwater contaminant investigations. While possessing a broad-based knowledge regarding water-quality issues, he specialized in water supply, permitting, and groundwater remediation. Mr. Noble has worked in both the governmental (Montana DNRC and Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Hydrology Section) and private sector (CH2M Hill, Land & Water Consulting, Applied Water Consulting, and Water & Environmental Technologies). Mr. Noble specialized in groundwater supply and availability assessments for both public and private water purveyors which included the design and testing of large production wells for municipal/public water supplies, industrial, and agricultural uses. Through this experience he developed a comprehensive understanding of regulatory processes.
In addition, Mr. Noble serves on numerous boards as Chairperson for the Flathead County Board of Health, vice-chair of the Flathead County Board of Adjustments, and member of the Flathead County Solid Waste District Board. In addition, Mr. Noble also served as a member and chairperson of the Montana Petroleum Tank Release Compensation Board from 2004 to 2016. Mr. Noble’s education includes a B.S. Geology, University of Montana (1978) and M.S. Geology, Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology (1984).
George McLeod
Appointed by the Tribes.
George McLeod was raised on the Flathead Indian Reservation, and is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. George began his career with the CS&KT immediately after graduating from Dixon High School in 1971. He started with CS&KT Forestry Development during the summer of 1971 as a seasonal forestry technician. From 1971 to 1976 he was involved in seasonal fire control, including two years as assistant Helitac Forman, and as a member of the labor union. George then spent six years as a timber cruiser in the Forestry Development Program before joining the Water Management Program in 1982. During his time with the CSKT, George obtained his Associate of Applied Science degree in Forestry from Flathead Valley Community College and Salish and Kootenai College. A 45-year employee of the Water Management Program, George currently serves as the Chief of Field Operations, where he is responsible for coordinating the work efforts of hydrographer personnel, resolving a wide range of mechanical, technical, and fieldwork problems, and reviewing stream gaging records for technical adequacy and soundness.
Georgia Smies
Appointed by the four voting Board Members
Georgia is an aquatic biologist with 30+ years of experience working in freshwater ecosystems in the Intermountain West. She has a B.S. in Biology from Virginia Tech and a M.S. in Zoology from the University of Montana. She currently works as a Wildlife and Fisheries Instructor at Salish Kootenai College. She also operates her own business, Springbrook Consulting, which specializes in data analysis and research design of water quality projects located outside of the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Kenneth Pitt
Appointed by MT
Before returning to college in 1980, Ken worked in several major western national parks including Glacier. In Glacier, Ken worked as a winterkeeper at the Many Glacier Hotel, and then as a Bear Management Ranger.
Ken graduated from the University of Montana School of Forestry with a B.S in 1982 with High Honors in Wildlife Biology. He graduated from the University of Montana’s School of Law in 1985 with a Juris Doctor with Honors.
During law school he worked as a legal intern in Washington D.C. for the U.S. Justice Department’s Wildlife and Marine Resource section. After law school Ken went to work as a general attorney for the USDA-Office of General Counsel in Missoula, Montana, with his primary client agency the USDA-Forest Service.
In 1986. Ken was assigned the position of Special Assistant United States Attorney, where he was tasked with representing the Forest Service and the National Park Service before the Montana Water Court. In 1990, Ken was reassigned to the new Denver Regional Office where he assumed the role of lead regional attorney for advising the Forest Service’s four Rocky Mountain Regions on hazardous material water quality, and air quality issues.
In 2000, Ken left the hazardous material program but added the role of lead regional counsel for Forest Service law enforcement, specifically for prosecution of arson claims on the National Forests. During this time, Ken also served as a technical legal expert for the National Wildfire Coordination Group, headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
Since 2011, after returning home to Montana, Ken has worked as an Associate Appellate Justice for the CSKT, taught as an Adjunct Instructor at Salish Kootenai College where he continues to teach Water Law, Environmental Law, and Natural Resource Law and Policy. Ken has also taught Water Law and Natural Resource Law and Policy as an adjunct professor at the University of Montana’s Colleges of Law and Forestry. Ken has been Chief Justice of the Crow Tribe’s Court of Appeals since 2008.
Shane R. Hendrickson
Appointed by Secretary of the Interior
Shane is a graduate of Arlee High School and went on to receive a B.S. in Wildlife Biology (aquatic emphasis) from the University of Montana’s, School of Forestry. He then spent the next 30+ years working with the U.S. Forest Service as a Fisheries Biologist working on Helena and Lolo National Forests. Shane is currently working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as the Flathead Agency, Superintendent.