U.S. Water News Online
TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- Magic Valley groundwater pumpers north of the Snake River have filed a plan with state regulators intended to satisfy concerns of spring water users in the Hagerman Valley.
If the Idaho Department of Water Resources does not accept a mitigation plan, the groundwater users could see their water shut off when a temporary agreement expires at the end of the year.
The groundwater users -- including at least 75 dairies in Jerome and Gooding Counties -- irrigate tens of thousands of acres of farmland, said Lynn Tominaga, executive director of Idaho Groundwater Appropriators.
Meanwhile, spring water users -- including Idaho's largest trout companies, Clear Springs Foods Inc. and Clear Lakes Trout Co. -- contend that wells punched into the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer have reduced spring flows.
Officials estimate that springs now empty the aquifer into the Snake River between Kimberly and Hagerman at a rate of about 5,000 cubic feet of water per second, which is 1,650 cubic feet per second less than the spring's peak flows in 1951. The decline equals the loss of more than 1 million acre feet of water a year -- enough water to cover one million acres of ground a foot deep.
Drought has exacerbated the reduced flows.
Groundwater users generally have water rights junior to spring water users, and under Idaho law junior users are the first to shut down if there is not enough water to go around.
A two-year agreement preventing litigation between groundwater and surface water users expires Dec. 31, and Clear Lakes Trout Co. has asked the water department to curtail water use by junior right holders.
Tominaga said neither side wants a shutoff because it would disrupt the region's economy and may not help the spring users.
``This is mainly to allow folks who have been farming for the last 20 years to continue on. It's a starting point for discussion instead of having people use litigation to try to get their way,'' Tominaga said.
Clear Lakes Trout Co. officials could not be reached for comment.
Clear Springs Foods President Larry Cope said senior water rights held by the hatcheries should not run short while those with junior rights continue to draw water from the aquifer. But, he said, no one should be put out of business by the mitigation.
Clear Springs Foods will likely file a proposal in response to the groundwater users plan filed recently, company attorney John Simpson said.
The groundwater users' five-year plan sets a target of restoring an average of 40,000 acre feet of water to the aquifer each year for a total of 200,000 acre feet.
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