Idaho to require water use monitors on some wells
Tue., July 12, 2016
BOISE – Idaho officials are requiring well users pumping water from a large aquifer to install measuring devices to better monitor their water usage.
The Capital Press reports that the Idaho Department of Water Resources says the devices must be installed by 2018 on wells drawing from the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer.
Idaho Ground Water Appropriators, Inc., Executive Director Lynn Tominaga estimates the cost of the equipment and installation will be about $5,400 per well. A grant from the Bureau of Reclamation will help growers pay for it.
Tominaga says the flow meters will give growers more control over how they manage the water for their crops.
Small wells and domestic or stock water wells are exempt from the order.
Local journalism is essential.
Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds.
Subscribe now to get breaking news alerts in your email inbox
Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens.
