Idaho Water Summit addresses increasing demand for water

Idaho is seeing improved drought conditions compared to recent summers. Boise and the rest of central and southern Idaho seeing normal to above normal water year precipitation.

While moisture may not have been as much of a concern this year, water management is incredibly important as the Treasure Valley and other areas in Idaho continue to grow rapidly.

Jeff Raybould, Chairman of the Idaho Water Resources Board, shares, “Many of us in agriculture depend on it in our livelihood – but everybody has to have water. As we see growth, we see more demand for Idaho water. It’s important that we make plans.”

One area of improvement mentioned in the meeting is using available aquifers to store water, particularly the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer.

Raybould says there have been issues with the aquifer leaking, but that there is space available to store additional water.

“We need to figure out how to take the available water supply we have and hold it in the basin,” explained Raybould. “That involves additional surface storage, which the Water Board is working on on the Boise River. It involves aquifer recharge where we can.”