Struggling over water shortages

By KATHLEEN O'NEIL
koneil@postregister.com

ESPA Water and Groundwater Districts

Idaho should've seen this day coming. That's what Rep. Jack Barraclough, R-Idaho Falls, believes.

With the Snake River Plain Aquifer dropping steadily and the state in the midst of a severe drought, he says it was only a matter of time before a battle erupted between groundwater well-users in eastern Idaho and senior water-users in southern Idaho.

Now Barraclough and other state lawmakers are trying to broker a deal to keep the peace after Twin Falls users have threatened to force the state to shut down wells so they can get their water. They have been going without as much as half the water they're entitled to due to groundwater pumping.

Two main proposals are on the table. The first calls for shutting off 1,300 groundwater wells -- mostly in eastern Idaho -- so the Twin Falls users can get about 900,000 acre-feet more water. The second proposes raising as much as $100 million through bonds to buy additional water and pay for mitigation measures for the Twin Falls users.

"The sad thing about it is we've known about this (problem) for 40 years," said Barraclough, who is also a hydrologist. "Now the question is, do we try to bail them out and make everyone unhappy who has to pay, or let the law take its path?"

Neither group will get everything they want, he said, and both solutions carry a hefty price tag for the state.

The problem here began when the Snake River Plain Aquifer, which stretches from Island Park to west of Twin Falls, started dropping in the 1950s as irrigators switched from flood irrigating to sprinkler systems.

State water laws didn't manage groundwater the same way as surface water because for a long time, there wasn't a good understanding of how closely the two were connected. It wasn't until an Idaho Power lawsuit was settled in the 1980s that the state began managing the two together.

The Department of Water Resources then put a moratorium on drilling new wells for agricultural and industrial uses so new users had to buy existing water rights from private parties.

"In the last 10 years, we've shifted from a water consumption mentality that said 'Use it as fast as we can,' to one of 'We're out of water,' " said former Sen. Laird Noh, R-Kimberly, who co-chaired a state water committee.

The state had managed to fend off calls for waters from senior users -- mainly Thousand Springs fish farmers and Twin Falls canal companies -- by negotiating less use by junior users and renting unused water. But several agreements are set to expire, and there is no longer enough water to buy to give to senior users.

In times of shortage, a senior user can put out a call and, if the Department of Water Resources approves it, it will shut off water to junior users upstream, which is their right under Idaho law.

The shortages reached a head last year, when there wasn't enough water left over to rent, said Lewis Rounds, the watermaster for District 120, which includes parts of Idaho Falls.

"We started in the worst drought ever, and then the Bureau of Reclamation needed water for salmon flows so it wouldn't get sued by environmental groups. Canal companies actually gave up water so the Bureau could release it," Rounds said.

The fight has become as much about economics as water.

A study by groundwater users found that shutting off wells in Jerome, Gooding, Cassia, Lincoln and Minidoka counties to produce more fish at Thousand Springs could cause agriculture-related businesses losses of $750 million to $900 million.

Spring-water users countered with their own study, which found fish farms and other businesses relying on those springs could be contributing about $400 million more to the economy with higher flows.

The state has commissioned its own study, which is expected to be completed by January.

Ultimately, though, it will be up to the two groups of water users to settle it.

With time running out on their agreements, state legislators are hoping the pressure will force the two to resolve the situation, so they can avoid an expensive court battle.