The Water Keepers chronicles the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ groundbreaking water-measurement program launched in 1982. Over four decades, tribal scientists installed and maintained a comprehensive network of stream gages across the Flathead Reservation, replacing theoretical projections with measurable data.

That scientific record ultimately laid the groundwork for the CSKT Water Compact -- a landmark water rights settlement approved by the Montana Legislature, ratified by Congress, and signed into law in 2020. While the Compact became one of the most scrutinized measures in Montana legislative history, the film reveals how its success rested on decades of disciplined measurement demonstrating how water truly moves through the landscape.