Bills delay water decision
BOISE – New legislation to put off the proposed North Idaho water rights adjudication and require an advisory vote of area residents before it goes forward was introduced in the Senate Resources Committee on Friday.
State Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, who’s sponsoring several bills to either cancel or scale back the controversial adjudication, said she thinks the new bill offers a solution. “I think it’s an opportunity for the education piece to take place, for people to feel that their voice counts and they have a say,” Broadsword said. “It takes a step back and maybe starts with that grass-roots effort that we should’ve had before.”
The new measure is co-sponsored by state Sens. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, and Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, the Senate resources chairman. Also introduced Friday was a new measure to delete the northernmost basin, which takes in the Moyie and Kootenai rivers, from the adjudication. State Water Resources Director David Tuthill told the committee that basin is separate hydraulically from the others in North Idaho, and those rivers flow north into Canada.
While the panel heard from angry Bonner, Boundary and Shoshone county commissioners on Thursday who oppose the adjudication, it heard from a Latah County commissioner Friday who strongly favors it for his area’s Palouse Basin. “It’s important for our basin that we need to know where our water is and what we have,” said Commissioner Tom Strohschein, who noted that Washington is conducting a water resources inventory just over the state line.
Other testimony in favor of the proposed legal sorting-out of North Idaho water rights came from Avista Corp. and Idaho Rivers United.
“Is adjudication scary? No doubt, it certainly is,” said Kevin Lewis, conservation director for Idaho Rivers United. “Then again, not doing what’s necessary is not a solution either.”
Neil Colwell, lobbyist for Avista, spoke in favor of the adjudication, but also backed legislation he’s co-sponsoring with Keough to lower proposed fees for claims.
Schroeder said the committee likely will vote on the various bills regarding the adjudication sometime next week.