U.S. Water News Online
BOISE, Idaho -- The state's top water official has given hundreds of farmers, dairymen and other groundwater users in southern Idaho until July 6 to quit pumping or satisfy the demands of two trout farms that say they've been forced to slash fish production because they aren't getting water they're legally due.
The order from Dave Tuthill, state Department of Water Resources director, covers 591 water rights over 16,638 acres, fewer than the 771 water rights on 33,000 acres discussed when Tuthill announced a proposed curtailment in April.
Still, representatives of Magic Valley groundwater pumpers say economic losses on fields already planted with crops such as sugar beets and potatoes could approach $20 million.
Tuthill's shutoff order is the latest development in Idaho's water woes, exacerbated by aggressive groundwater pumping and another year of drought. Though Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter called a water summit April 17 to discuss broader solutions to conflicts between Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer groundwater pumpers and holders of century-old water rights, this order seems to indicate that sometimes shutting pumpers down is the only way.
"Curtailment is a last resort, but we are obligated under Idaho law to follow through with enforcement when mitigation is not provided," Tuthill said. "The parties involved so far have not presented an acceptable solution to get through 2007, so I have no choice but to issue these curtailment orders."
The aquifer is a Lake Erie-sized underground reservoir stretching from Elmore County to Rexburg that feeds the Snake River at the natural Thousand Springs area near Hagerman.
Drinking water won't be affected by the order, but gardeners and those with lawns in towns like Wendell and Shoshone could be forced to turn off their sprinklers. Some commercial, industrial and municipal water users also would be affected.
Pumpers have until July 6 to either deliver a mitigation plan -- or shut off their pumps.
Otherwise, they'll face state fines of as much as $300 per acre.
Lynn Tominaga, director of the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators, estimates the cost of the shutoff to farmers could be as high as $1,200 an acre, meaning their economic losses could be $20 million, not including industrial water users in the region.
Tominaga said this is the first time a curtailment order has been issued after growers planted their fields.
"The problem that you run into is the lending institutions," he told The Associated Press. "If a bank knows that you don't have the water to finish out your crop and harvest, are you going to get a loan to farm? "
Earlier this year, the Idaho Legislature set aside $15 million for an "economic emergency." Otter aides said tapping the fund has been discussed, to help ease possible losses for growers and southern Idaho businesses.
Tuthill said he's still optimistic that groundwater users will submit fresh plans to try to avert a shutdown.
Earlier this year, groundwater pumpers submitted a plan to set aside 45,000 acre feet of water for the trout farms.
But the state rejected the proposal. Pumpers could use canals to ship 65-70 degree water to the trout farms, but those operations need colder, 54-degree spring water that's clean enough to drink in order to raise their fish.
"The challenge for the groundwater users is to provide water either through recharge, or through the retirement of wells near the springs that feed the trout farms," Tuthill told the AP in an interview.
Blue Lakes Trout Farm and Clear Springs Foods first demanded the shutoff in 2005 -- they have older water rights than the groundwater pumpers, and say they haven't been getting their share.
Idaho is the nation's largest producer of farm-raised rainbow trout, with the industry valued at about $35 million annually. That's down 5 percent since 1999, and large fish-growing operations say they've been hurt by not receiving the water allotted to them by their water rights.
"Our crop yields have been curtailed," said Gregory Kaslo, president of Blue Lakes, describing how water shortages have hurt his business. "The demand for Idaho rainbow trout outstrips the supply. We have to turn down orders that we cannot fill because we don't have product."
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