House panel OKs bill to study Idaho aquifers

BOISE – A bill that would give state water officials $20 million to study, monitor and develop plans for future management of 10 aquifers scattered across the state cleared its first legislative hurdle Wednesday.

The House Resources and Conservation Committee agreed to consider the bill, which supporters say is a critical component to planning for population growth, dealing with climate change and averting future water battles like those unfolding around the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer in Southern Idaho.

“This is really vital,” said Hal Anderson, an administrator at the Idaho Department of Water Resources. “If you look all around us, states like Washington and Oregon, they’re spending millions and millions of dollars doing the very same thing. We need to get started now.”

The bill calls for spending $20 million over the next 10 years to gather technical data, monitor and better understand aquifers in nearly every corner of the state.

It would also grant the Idaho Water Resource Board the authority to develop plans for managing how each aquifer is used or preserved in the face of increased demand for water from growth in cities, agriculture and other uses.

The bill emerged from meetings of the interim Natural Resources Committee last summer, and earlier this month earned a nod from Gov. Butch Otter, who mentioned it in his State of the State address on Jan. 7.

House sponsor Rep. Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg, said it’s critical that the state get a better grasp of its water resources, especially in areas dealing with explosive growth like the Treasure Valley.

“With the huge development in the Treasure Valley … aquifers are going down,” Raybould told the committee Wednesday.

If the bill is approved, hydrologists would begin in 2009 to study the aquifers serving the Treasure Valley and the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer in northern Idaho.

In two-year intervals, the state would then turn attention to aquifers in Moscow, the Wood River Valley, Bear River Basin in southeastern Idaho, Mountain Home and others in eastern Idaho.

Anderson said the need to study and develop aquifer management plans grew from the water battles that have been played out in recent years over water in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, an underground reservoir that covers a 10,800-square-mile area in Southern Idaho.

For years, increased demand for water from farmers, cities and businesses has drawn down the aquifer. Recently, the problem has become an economic fight, as the drawdown has diminished the flows from natural springs that supply cool, pure water to trout farms in the region.

In response, the aquaculture industry, citing state water law, petitioned the state for higher volumes.

Tension increased last summer when the state threatened to cut off hundreds of farmers, ranchers and businesses in the Magic Valley who pump their water from the aquifer.

A last-minute deal between the state and groundwater users averted the shutdown, but state officials have already warned of possible curtailment for the upcoming growing season.

“In many areas of the state, we’ve tapped out our capacities,” Anderson said. “And if we’re going to continue to provide basic water needs and meet growth potential for the state, we’re going to have to make a fairly significant investment in our water infrastructure.”