Idaho
Following curtailment fight, Idaho water users seek long-term solution • Idaho Capital Sun
With the issue temporarily resolved for the year, Idaho water users continue to negotiate toward longer term water solutions that farmers hope will avoid shutting the water off during growing seasons.
The issue came to a head on May 30 when the Idaho Department of Water resources issued a curtailment order requiring the holders of 6,400 junior groundwater rights to curtail, or shut off, their water, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.
Ultimately, the curtailment order lasted about three weeks until water users reached an agreement for the 2024 irrigation season that the Idaho Department of Water Resources announced June 20.
The Idaho Department of Water Resources announced it paused enforcing the curtailment order on June 13 after it became obvious the two sides were working toward a settlement agreement.
While the agreement resolves the issue for this year, Gov. Brad Little has asked water users to come up with longer term solutions in the coming weeks.
Little issued an executive order on June 26 that outlines two new deadlines:
- By Sept. 1, the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Groundwater Management Plan Advisory Council has to submit a new groundwater management plan to be submitted to the Idaho Department of Water Resources.
- By Oct. 1, the surface water user and the groundwater users have to meet and establish an improved mitigation plan.
“Several negotiation meetings have taken place over the summer, and I’m confident that farmers will create the solutions that will avoid future water shortages no matter where you farm,” Little wrote in an opinion piece released Wednesday.
Little stressed that he would not mandate a solution.
“Because the only solution that is acceptable to me is one that is crafted by farmers,” Little wrote. “If we don’t do this together, then the EPA or the courts (or worst, Congress!) will determine our water destiny.”
Idaho’s lieutenant governor is helping facilitate water talks
Idaho Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, is helping facilitate a series of stakeholder meetings between surface water managers and groundwater managers. The two sides met Aug. 7 in Pocatello. Although they did not reach a long-term agreement at that meeting, Bedke said he is encouraged.
“We made substantial progress today,” Bedke said in an Aug. 7 phone interview. “In everyone I think there has been a decided shift in the thinking a little bit, this acknowledgement that we are all in this together and that we have the tools at our disposal to fix this and never have a repeat of what happened this spring.”
Bedke said the state’s May 30 curtailment order “was not our finest hour.”
“That’s certainly my commitment,” Bedke said. “I will not be a part of anything that puts one side of the state against the other. This is all Idaho. We are all in it together and think we have to end up having something we can work with.”
“Having said that, not everybody is going to get everything they want (in a new deal), but they will get everything they need,” Bedke added. “That is certainly my commitment.”
T.J. Budge, general counsel for the Idaho Ground Water Association, said he hopes for a new deal that protects the water for senior water rights holders and removes uncertainty and anxiety for junior groundwater rights holders. He also hopes the state can stabilize the aquifer for future longevity.
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“At a high level, we are in a place where the water users are in negotiations to try to develop a groundwater management plan that both sides can agree to and can provide a path forward to maintaining the aquifer and keeping farmland in production,” Budge said in a phone interview.
On Aug. 8, Idaho Department of Water Resources hydrologists reported that water levels in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer increased by 800,000 acre feet in the last year, according to a news release issued by the department. Despite the recent gain, the aquifer has been dwindling for decades. Since 1952, the storage capacity of the aquifer is down by more than 14 million acre feet of water, according to the Idaho Department of Water Resources.
Acre feet is a unit of volume used to indicate the amount of water needed to cover an acre of land one foot deep.
“Idaho is facing a water shortage underground,” Little wrote Aug. 14.
“Since 1952, we have lost the equivalent of five trillion gallons of water – enough for the domestic use for the total population of Idaho for the next 75 years,” Little added.
Budge wants to avoid water curtailment during growing seasons, when farmers need to water crops.
“What we learned is you have to curtail a lot of farmland to get a comparatively small benefit in terms of water coming out of the springs at American Falls,” Budge said. “… We think there are much more cost effective ways that don’t involve drying up hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland.”
“In-season curtailment of water for growing crops is problematic, and economically and socially devastating for the state,” Budge added.
Budge said one of the topics the two sides are still negotiating over is how to mitigate the senior water rights holders when there isn’t enough water to go around.
How do water rights work in Idaho?
Water issues in Idaho are governed by the doctrine of prior appropriation, which means “first in time, first in right.” In other words, the older senior water rights have priority over the more recent junior water rights when there is not enough water to go around.
The junior water rights holders have a mitigation plan that identifies how the junior water rights holders will prevent or compensate the senior water rights holders for water shortages.
This year, the director of the Idaho Department of Water Resources said six groundwater districts were not compliance with mitigation plans and issued a May 30 curtailment order that called for 6,400 junior water rights holders who pump of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer to shut off their water due to a predicted water shortage for senior water rights holders.
After three weeks, the two sides reached a settlement agreement that protected all members of groundwater districts from curtailment for the rest of this year’s irrigation season, the Idaho Department of Water Resources announced June 20.
BOISE, Idaho (Idaho Capital Sun) — Day use access fees at all Idaho state parks will be waived for Idaho residents on July 4 as part of a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, Gov. Brad Little announced Friday, as reported by the Idaho Capital Sun.
“As we prepare to mark 250 years of American independence, there is no better way to celebrate than by getting outside with our loved ones and enjoying the freedoms and natural treasures that define our great nation,” Little said Friday. “Idaho’s state parks showcase the very best of our state, and we are proud to welcome families, friends and visitors to explore them free of charge during this special occasion.”
While day use fees for Idaho residents will be waived, normal camping and reservation fees will apply, officials said.
Idaho has 28 state parks, which offer a variety of recreational and outdoor activities including hiking, horseback riding, skiing, bird watching, rock climbing, fishing, boating, swimming, bicycling and more.
State officials with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation are in the process of unveiling improvements and enhancements at several state parks, including Lucky Peak State Park outside of Boise, which recently opened a new dog beach and accessible kayak launch on the Boise River.
Other state parks include Bruneau Dunes State Park and Observatory, Harriman State Park, Bear Lake State Park and City of Rocks National Reserve, which is a national reserve and state park that attracts climbers from all over the world to its dramatic granite rock spires.
Little said the July 4 fee waiver is a part of a larger effort to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence being signed in 1776.
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We’re lucky to live in a place as safe as the Treasure Valley. Despite our growth, one of the things that makes our area so special is the way that we look out for one another–for our neighbors! That’s a principle that seems to have held on as Boise has boomed.
Despite low crime rates, there seems to always be one incident or so that makes us scratch our heads.
A recent string of fraud incidents in the Treasure Valley area is one of those.
Nampa Police initially warned the public of this because cases of fraud began to ‘mushroom’. Then, it took an interesting turn–people that HAD their credit cards were being ‘taken to the bank’, so to speak.
In a statement originally released on April 30th by the Nampa Police Department, officials advised the following:
We are not sure how the suspects are gaining access to the victim’s credit cards. There is a growing fraud scheme, “ghost tapping”, that scammers are using to access victims’ credit cards. This is possibly occurring in these instances. “Ghost tapping” uses stolen credit card details in Apple Pay or Google Pay, then remotely relays the tap signal over the internet to a ‘mule’ at a store, allowing them to make high-value purchases that appear completely legitimate. (We’ll share more information on ghost tapping in a later public service announcement that will also suggest ways to protect yourself.) The app used by these criminals obscures the actual credit card number, making it harder for investigators to link a victim to a particular crime. Keep in mind that victims still have their physical credit cards while suspects use the stolen card information to make purchases, which also affects how victims are alerted. So far, local investigators have not been able to identify a common theme among the victims (e.g., a specific bank, a website they visited, a gas pump they used, etc.) in the fraud cases we are investigating.
The investigation spans far and wide.
Authorities say that some suspects are in custody, others are being contacted, and others are still at large.
Now, a week later, the police are back to reaching out to the public–this time, urging people to check their bank accounts.
Nampa Police say that they have caught onto a pattern– there are fraudulent charges at Albertson’s to purchase gift cards, at Costco to purchase Apple products, and at Best Buy, also for Apple products.
Check those bank statements!
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What on earth was happening in Eagle this week?
Gallery Credit: Credit: Mateo, 103.5 KISS FM
It’s Not Hard To See Why This Idaho Police Photoshoot Is Going Viral
The Jerome Police Department is going viral thanks to Twin Falls photographer, Layton Henderson. Once you see the hilarious photos, you’ll see why!
Gallery Credit: Chris Cardenas
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