Hearing To Review Application For Minimum Priest River Flows

The state of Idaho wants an “insurance policy” to make sure there’s always enough water in the Priest River to protect fish and wildlife.

The Water Resource Board is seeking a minimum streamflow for 21 miles of the river. A public hearing on the application will be held at 2 p.m. Oct. 5 at the city hall in Priest River, 209 High St.

The board wants at least 688 cubic feet per second flowing in the river from Oct. 1 through July 31. It wants at least 418 cfs each August and September.

That minimum flow is necessary to protect fish and wildlife habitat, aquatic life and recreational use of the river, according to the board’s application.

If approved, the water right would carry a priority date of June 15, 1992. That means no one who was granted water rights after that date could take water from the river if doing so would drop the flow below minimum.

So far, two irrigators and two domestic water users have received permission to take Priest River water after that 1992 date, according to Dick Larsen of the state Department of Water Resources.

The streamflow request covers a stretch of the Priest River from its confluence with the East River downstream to its confluence with the Pend Oreille River.

, DataTimes