Snake River bill may hinder plan

BOISE – A dispute over a bill to preserve the Snake River in Wyoming presents a hurdle for Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo’s proposal to protect the Owyhee Canyonlands and nearby ranchers.

Sen. Larry Craig and water users oppose a bill to protect 387 miles of the Snake River and its tributaries in Wyoming that was sent to the Senate floor two weeks ago with a package of other bills, including Crapo’s Owyhee bill.

Craig has opposed the Craig Thomas Snake Headwaters Legacy Act from the start, saying it presented a threat to Idaho irrigation farmers downstream.

It is still not clear whether the two bills will be in the same package on the floor, Crapo said Friday. But he’s committed to resolving the Wyoming dispute so Idaho’s water rights are preserved and Wyoming gets the protection it wants.

“I am working very hard to find a path forward,” Crapo said.

The bill, introduced by the late Republican Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas, has wide support, including from Vice President Dick Cheney, a former Wyoming congressman. “It has become a legacy issue,” Crapo said.

“I really see this as a badge of honor for our rivers,” said Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the Republican who succeeded Thomas.

But irrigation districts around Twin Falls own the rights to most of the water stored in Jackson Lake inside Grand Teton National Park. Craig and the Idaho Water Users Association say a Wild and Scenic Rivers designation, especially for the stretch of river below Jackson Lake, could change the times water is released from Jackson Lake Dam or provide a legal platform for environmentalists to sue to reduce Idaho’s control over Wyoming’s water.

The water rights involved are among the most valuable in Idaho. Most of the Magic Valley’s farm economy depends in part on these rights – and they also are critical to the state’s future industrial growth.

“Idaho’s water user community has a long, painful history of dealing with federal bureaucrats and environmental groups who try to manipulate policies, statutes or rules to achieve results never intended,” said Norm Semanko, executive director of the Idaho Water Users Association. “Given that track record, it is only a matter of time before those same forces attempt to use any federal protected river designation to drive Jackson Lake water management, resulting in reduced water storage supplies for Idaho irrigators.”

Washington, D.C., attorney Bill Horn, who was assistant secretary of interior for fish, wildlife and parks in the Reagan administration, said language added by Barrasso ensures the bill won’t affect the management and operation of Jackson Lake or Jackson Lake Dam. He points to similar language in a bill in Colorado that was challenged when a federal dam was nearly drying up a river.

The courts held that the clear language kept dam operations in place despite the river being designated as wild and scenic.

“When you look at that kind of case law and the language of Sen. Barrasso’s bill, I’m confident that Idaho interests are adequately protected,” Horn said.

Crapo expects the bills sent to the floor Wednesday will be debated in June.