Idaho
$30 million water infrastructure bill advances in Idaho Legislature – East Idaho News
BOISE — Eastern Idaho irrigators are one step closer to seeing a legislation providing ongoing funding for aquifer recharge and water storage projects become law.
On Friday morning, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) voted 15-5 to approve a motion to fund Gov. Brad Little’s $30 million 2025 budget request for ongoing funding for water projects.
“It’s a historic move,” JFAC Co-Chairwoman Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, said. “There is a trickle-down effect for any recharge and storage that we do here. It benefits not only us but everyone downstream.”
Since 2019, the Legislature has appropriated nearly $600 million toward water projects statewide, but only $24 million has been invested in southeast Idaho for aquifer recharge and storage, she said.
According to the motion, the funding can be used for:
- Aquifer recharge, groundwater management, and other projects aimed at sustaining aquifer health and long-term water availability;
- Development and rehabilitation of water storage and conveyance systems, including reservoirs, diversion structures, pipelines and canals;
- Water supply and delivery improvements that enhance efficiency and conservation;
- Emergency water infrastructure repairs and upgrades to ensure the resilience of vital water systems.
In a statement Friday, Little thanked the Idaho Legislature for taking action on this legislation.
“Idaho farmers worked hard last year to arrive at a new water deal that protects Idaho agriculture and secures Idaho’s water sovereignty,” Little said. “The success of the new deal hinges on the infrastructure projects this funding will help cover.
He said the legislation is necessary for the state to maintain control of its own water resources.
“I appreciate the Idaho Legislature for keeping this important issue at the forefront so Idaho does not turn out like other states in the Colorado Basin that ceded control of their water to the courts, the federal government, or other states,” he said in the statement.
Sen. Burtenshaw’s bill stalled in House
A previous piece of legislation to provide $30 million in ongoing funds for water infrastructure — S.B. 1128 sponsored by Senator Van Burtenshaw, R-Terreton — flew through the Senate on a 26-10-1 vote on March 3.
It’s been tied up in the House Resources and Conservation Committee ever since.
Lawmakers were debating whether the $30 million should be allocated every single year and be distributed across the state or just in eastern Idaho.
“The purpose of it is to help with recharge. It’s to help with projects to increase the amount of water that we’re putting into the aquifer,” said Rep. Ben Fuhriman, R-Shelley. “We have hundreds of thousands of acre-feet that are flowing down the river every single year because we have no infrastructure to capture it.”
Fuhriman said the state needs to construct additional infrastructure, such as aquifer recharge sites and recharge wells, to efficiently transfer water into the aquifer.
“We don’t (currently) have enough room in the reservoirs, and we don’t have the ability to transfer into the aquifer, and so it just flows down the river,” he explained.
Rep. Jerald Raymond, R-Menan, said additional water infrastructure is necessary for groundwater appropriators and the Surface Water Coalition to meet the terms of the stipulated mitigation plan approved last fall.
RELATED | Locals feeling optimistic about new long-term water mitigation plan after decade-long dispute
Multiple irrigation groups sent letters and were worried that the bill had stalled in the House, and the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee took up the matter on Friday.
“It passed committee, so we will create the bill with that appropriation in it and send it to the House and the Senate for them to make the final decision,” Horman said.
Horman said she a strong supporter of aquifer recharge. She met with Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke and Rep. Van Burtenshaw last week to reach a compromise on one aspect of the legislation.
“What I was fighting for was an earmark, which was that in year one of this ongoing appropriation, the money would be earmarked for the success of the 2024 settlement agreement,” she said. “We agreed to a compromise where they would agree to support earmarking, and I would agree to support ongoing funding.”
The measure includes a provision that in the coming year, half of the funds will be allocated to District 3 and half to District 4 — earmarking the funds for eastern Idaho and the Magic Valley.
“We have sent a lot of money to other parts of the state and I supported every dime of that money, but this (time) the need was in southern Idaho,” Horman said.
Raymond said there was a small difference between JFAC’s motion — an “appropriation with intent” — and Burtenshaw’s original bill — “a policy bill with a request for funding.”
He’s grateful the measure is moving forward.
“Water is a shared resource … with every citizen of the state, so it does have an obligation to plan and fund these projects,” Raymond said.
He anticipates the House and Senate will support the measure before adjourning in the coming weeks.
“Every year we have what we call a going home bill. We can’t come home till it’s passed,” Raymond said. “This is that bill this year.”
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Idaho
University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders
A University of Idaho professor won a $10 million judgment after a tarot TikTok influencer publicly pushed false claims that she was behind the savage quadruple slayings of four college students.
A Boise jury in US District Court ordered fortune-telling Texas TikToker Ashley Guillard on Friday to pay $10 million after concluding she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret romance with one of the four victims and orchestrating their killings, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Following the verdict, Scofield thanked the jury and said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online have consequences in the real world.”
“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.
“Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”
Scofield, the university’s history department chair, filed the lawsuit in December 2022 — just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Guillard began uploading videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, accusing Scofield of a secret relationship with one of the students and claiming she had “ordered” the killings, garnering millions of views across the social media platform.
The complaint states that Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the murders occurred.
Even after being served with cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the murders, the Houston-based tarot reader continued posting videos, the history professor’s legal team argued.
Guillard doubled down on her accusations against Scofield after being sued, posting a defiant video saying, “I am not stopping,” and challenging why Scofield needed three lawyers to sue her “if she’s so innocent.”
The professor’s legal team argued the defamatory accusations painted her as a criminal and accused her of professional misconduct that could derail her career.
Bryan Kohberger, then studying criminology at Washington State University, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the quadruple murders in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in Idaho.
In June 2024, Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco found Guillard’s statements legally defamatory, leaving damages to be decided by a jury.
During the damages trial, Scofield described the anguish of seeing her name tied to the murders online, the Idaho Statesman reported.
However, Guillard, acting as her own attorney, insisted her comments were simply beliefs based on tarot card readings.
She claimed to have psychic powers and testified that she relied on tarot cards to try to solve the shocking homicides that shook the rural college town and sparked global attention.
It took jurors less than two hours to return their verdict, the outlet reported.
The jury awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $2.5 million in compensatory damages.
With Post wires
BOISE, Idaho — AAA is warning Idaho gas consumers that pump prices will likely rise as the conflict in Iran disrupts oil and gas supply chains worldwide.
The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East will likely push the price for a gallon of regular gasoline past the $3 mark over the coming days.
“On one hand, the crude oil market had time to account for some financial risk in the Middle East as forces mobilized, but a supply shortage somewhere affects the global picture,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde. “If tankers can’t move products through the region, there could be ripple effects.”
On Monday, March 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.97, reports AAA, which is 12 cents more expensive than it was a month ago but 20 cents less than this time last year.
State / Price: 1 gallon of regular gasoline
- Washington / $4.37
- Oregon / $3.92
- Nevada / $3.70
- Idaho / $2.97
- Colorado / $2.89
- Montana / $2.82
- Utah / $2.74
- Wyoming / $2.73
In terms of the most expensive fuel in the nation, Idaho currently ranks #14. However, buying a gallon of regular gas in neighboring states such as Oregon and Washington could cost a whole dollar more. In contrast, gas prices in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming are anywhere between 15 to 24 cents cheaper than fuel in the Gem State.
The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Sunday, March 1, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on March 1.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 1 drawing
Day: 7-2-3
Night: 2-7-6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 1 drawing
Day: 4-7-9-3
Night: 8-7-7-3
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Idaho Cash numbers from March 1 drawing
03-06-07-33-41
Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 1 drawing
10-11-12-35-56, Bonus: 04
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Idaho Lottery drawings held ?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Pick 4: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 8:35 p.m. MT Monday and Thursday.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- 5 Star Draw: 8 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Idaho Cash: 8 p.m. MT daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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