B.C. First Nation gets $147M from Ottawa for lost water rights 131 years ago

The Canadian Press The federal government has reached a $147-million settlement with a First Nation in British Columbia over a dispute about water rights that dates back to the late 1800s. Members of the Esk’etemc First Nation in the Cariboo region began hand digging an irrigation ditch to their reserve with picks and shovels in the 1890s, but the government forced them to stop just a kilometre from their goal to access water for their reserve. In 1925, the water rights from the nearby Vert Lake were taken from the nation and granted to settlers of the area and the Esk’etemc didn’t get water to its reserve #6. The nation filed a claim against the federal government with the Specific Claims Tribunal more than 20 years ago over the loss…

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