Larry Cope, president and CEO of Clear Springs Foods, testified his company has scaled back production because it's not receiving its full share of water under the law.
"The water - it's our lifeblood," Cope said. "We're just asking for our water to be delivered to us."
Trout farm officials have said publicly they're losing millions because groundwater pumpers with less-senior water rights are sucking water from the aquifer that belongs to Clear Springs and another trout operation, Blue Lakes Trout Farm.
The companies have asked the state to shut down–groundwater wells to free up more water for their aquaculture operations.
At stake is the valley's aquaculture industry, as well as hundreds of land farms that depend on pumped water for irrigation. Several Magic Valley towns that rely on wells are also at risk, though drinking water supplies are not threatened.
The case has a long and complicated history. The trout farms have older water rights that trump the pumpers' rights under Idaho's first-in-time water law. In 2005, the trout farmers asked the state to shut down some pumps because less spring water was available at the farms, both near Buhl.
The pumpers agreed to provide the trout farmers with water under a deal called a mitigation plan, which–allowed them to keep the pumps running. But recently, the pumpers haven't been able to find enough water for spring users.
As a result, the trout farmers approached the state again and asked it to shut down the pumps.
In the meantime, senior water users sued the state, saying its method for managing water was unconstitutional and kept them from receiving their full water rights. The Supreme Court disagreed in January, which allowed the state to proceed with administering water.
Then in the spring - following a particularly dry winter - the state was just days from closing wells when pumpers offered another last-minute deal that averted what may have become an economic crisis.
Fast-forward to this week's hearing. Both sides are presenting their cases to former Chief Justice of Idaho Gerald Schroeder, who will recommend to the state's water director, Dave Tuthill, how to proceed.
Tuthill has already warned pumpers that their wells could be curtailed come spring. But he'll likely make his final decision this–winter based on Schroeder's recommendations, he said in an interview outside the hearing room. Tuthill has elected not to observe the proceedings.
The hearing, expected to last more than two weeks, could set precedent in two similar pending cases that pit water users with more senior rights against those with junior rights. Most close to the trout farm case expect it to be appealed and eventually reach the Supreme Court.
Cope testified that spring water is essential for the trout farms because it is very pure and emerges from the springs at a near-constant temperature year-round - both necessary for trout production.
Testimony from for the trout farms will continue this week. Former state water director Karl Dreher, who was director when the original mitigation agreement was formed, is expected to testify next week. Schroeder's ruling could follow the week after.
Matt Christensen may be reached at 735-3243 or at matt.christensen@lee.net.
BOISE -The board that governs Idaho's water is proposing dramatic changes to how the state's most precious resource is managed, stored and funded amid growing concern about climate change.
The Idaho Department of Water Resources Board wants to update the state water plan for the first time since 1996 and take a hands-on management approach unparalleled in the past four decades. The board's decisions will likely affect all Idahoans, especially irrigators and municipalities.
The policy shift is revolutionary, said Hal Anderson, a senior administrator with the board. "It was the late '60s the last time the water board was this assertive or aggressive," Anderson said.
In a work session late last week, the board discussed long-term strategies that could include building additional reservoirs or expanding existing facilities, recharging the aquifer and revamping management techniques to accommodate growth. The board could also ask the Legislature next session to fund projects similar to a current aquifer-recharge plan.
"We're basically at the limit of our functioning water-management plans," Anderson said. "And we're in a veritable crisis mode on the Eastern Snake Aquifer," where Magic Valley gets much of its water.
The board is concerned climate change, especially a decade of nearly consecutive drought years, is affecting a system designed for cooler temperatures and fewer water users.
Warmer spring weather in recent years has caused earlier spring runoff and changed stream-flow patterns, making it harder to capture and deliver water.
In the last two decades, the department has also struggled to manage groundwater and surface water as a single resource, a process called conjunctive management.
IDWR's announcement signals a general shift in the state's water role. This spring, Gov. Butch Otter hosted a water summit where he told water users to find solutions to Idaho's water crisis or he'd do it for them. Two sessions ago, the Legislature ordered the water board to develop a plan for managing the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. And in January, the Supreme Court upheld the principle of conjunctive management in a landmark case.
"The tone the governor set at the summit was that we've got to roll up our sleeves because the clock is ticking," said Jon Hanian, a spokesman for Otter. "If we all don't take an aggressive, hands-on approach this (water crisis) will get out of hand."
Times-News staff writer Matt Christensen covers the environment. He welcomes comments at matt.christensen@lee.net.
The proposal offered by the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators is the latest attempt to avert the economic hardship that could come from shutting down 591 water rights spread across more than 16,000 acres in the Magic Valley.
In its latest proposal, the groundwater users group pledges to recharge the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer with another 10,000 acre feet of water at the end of the growing season - doubling the amount it initially agreed to divert back into the aquifer in April.
''We think we are going to be very close,'' Tim Deeg, president of the groundwater group, told The Associated Press. ''We think it's enough to avoid curtailment and that's the biggest thing concerning us right now.''
As the nation's leading supplier of farm-raised rainbow trout, Idaho producers like Blue Lakes and Clear Springs say increased groundwater pumping from the aquifer is reducing flows of the cool, fresh water they use for raising trout.
In April, Tuthill issued a curtailment order that threatened to shut down 771 water rights across 33,000 acres in six counties north of the Snake River. The order was delayed after a brief showdown in the courts, but Tuthill reissued the order last month, this time shrinking the number of water rights and acreage affected.
''But we know it's going to be a lot more when you factor in all the ancillary effects,'' said Mike Journee, a spokesman for the groundwater users group.
The scale of the possible curtailment, however, was reduced yet again.
Idaho Department of Water Resources Director David Tuthill issued a new curtailment order for junior groundwater pumpers across south-central Idaho. The order takes effect July 6, unless an acceptable mitigation plan is provided by groundwater users with rights junior in priority to surface users in the Thousand Springs stretch.
Tuthill's decree now affects 591 groundwater rights, which include approximately 16,638 acres of southern Idaho farmland. That total acreage is almost half of the 33,000 acres Tuthill initially placed under the threat of curtailment in late April. The initial order also went to 771 groundwater rights.
The curtailment orders are a result of water delivery calls made two years ago in the courts by senior water right holders Blue Lakes Trout Farm and Clear Springs Foods' Snake River Farm. The trout producers' call began in 2005, and went through state courts for two years before going back to IDWR this spring.
Calling the push for curtailment a "last option," Tuthill foresees more negotiations bearing fruit before the July 6 deadline.
"The emphasis here is that while these orders are going out, I'm expecting we'll receive mitigation plans so curtailment can be avoided this year," Tuthill told the Times-News. "We received sufficient mitigation plans as we've carefully done our due diligence, and we have been able to find mitigation for all but 16,638 acres."
But representatives from opposing sides of the issue voiced disappointment with the director's new order Friday afternoon.
"That's the question, is it really sufficient mitigation?" asked Randy MacMillan, a vice president for Clear Springs Foods. "It is certainly less than what the director had said before â€- If they have found additional mitigation, we have yet to see it"
Tuthill's new order is the second curtailment reduction in a week. After meeting June 8 in Boise with multiple representatives of either side, the director cut the total number of acres facing curtailment from 33,000 acres to 22,000.
"We know the director is anxious to limit the affect of curtailment, but what's disappointing to us is that he doesn't seem to recognize the serious economic harm done to us by groundwater pumping," MacMillan said.
Lynn Tominaga, president of the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators, said the new order, in spite of its reduction in acreage, still amounts to a major financial blow for the region.
"The economic havoc, or the rift with the folks affected, is going to be tremendous," Tominaga said. "We've been saying (the impact is) about $1,000 to $1,200 per acre that's curtailed before folks can harvest their crops. That's a pretty big financial loss. A minimum of $16 million to $21 million is going to be taken out."
Junior water rights at risk include irrigation, commercial, industrial and domestic users, including towns and cities in southern Idaho. The junior water rights at are in Blaine, Butte, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln and Minidoka counties.
Tuthill said more mitigation plans could come from independent pumpers, but what's needed are larger mitigation plans from the IGWA. Tominaga said his group will continue to explore its options.
"We've got to look and see and what we can commit on putting together a plan," he said. "The biggest thing we'd like to see is the director have an expedited administrative hearing."
Tuthill said no conference was planned as of Friday, but that the July 8 meeting was a "step in the right direction."
David Cooper is the interim city editor of the Times-News. Contact him at 735-3246 or at dcooper@magicvalley.com.
| Last we knew: State water director David Tuthill cut the number of farming acres eligible for curtailment from 33,000 to 22,000. The latest: A new curtailment order has been issued for 16,638 acres across southern Idaho. What's next: Groundwater pumpers will aim for a new mitigation plan, and meeting with the director. |
This is the second time this month a curtailment order has been derailed. A previous order that affected pumpers in the Thousand Springs reach is on hiatus, pending a court hearing later this month.
The latest postponement, which affects users in the American Falls reach near Burley, comes after the Idaho Ground Water Association offered to guarantee the Twin Falls Canal Co. 1.075 million acre feet of water for its surface users. That's likely enough to postpone curtailment until at least November, when the canal company assesses how much water it provided for the previous season.
"We've put together a plan that will provide Twin Falls (Canal Co.) the water that's required for them to give a full water supply," said Lynn Tominaga, IGWA president. "We think it's a pretty fair deal."
Tominaga said IGWA will lease storage water at a cost of $6.30 an acre foot, plus $3 per acre foot for transporting the water through canal systems. IGWA is yet to finalize the purchases.
IDWR Director Dave Tuthill said he is relieved the agreement will postpone curtailment. But he said he's not ruling out shutdown later this summer. As the season progresses, if it appears the pumpers won't be able to provide the water they've agreed to, he may still order pumps closed.
"My assessment has been to delay the curtailment order and continue to monitor IGWA's progress," Tuthill said.
Though the agreement satisfies the state and pumpers, surface water users say they're not sure pumpers can find the water they've promised to lease.
"The question is whether water users will be willing to lease their storage water," said John Simpson, an attorney for the canal company. "It's pretty dry out there."
Times-News staff writer Matt Christensen covers the environment. He welcomes comments at 735-3243 and at matt.christensen@lee.net.
IDWR Director Issues Letters Warning of Mandatory Curtailment in the Thousand Springs Area
Idaho Department of Water Resources Director David Tuthill today signed letters to ground water users in the Thousand Springs area warning that he intends to issue orders on May 14th requiring potential curtailment of their ground water rights. The warning letters are issued as part of a continuing response to water delivery calls made in 2005 by senior water right holders Blue Lakes Trout Farm and Clear Springs Food’s Snake River Farm.
The delivery calls were made under the Department’s Rules for Conjunctive Management of Surface and Ground Water Sources. If required, the curtailment orders will affect certain ground water users with junior water rights in portions of Blaine, Butte, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka counties in South Central Idaho.
Water calls and curtailment orders are necessary to satisfy the director’s duty under Idaho law to administer water rights in accordance with the prior appropriation doctrine in times of shortage. “While we are forced to provide this notice, there is still an opportunity to identify additional mitigation. Curtailment is a last resort but we are obligated under Idaho law to follow through with enforcement if mitigation is not provided,” said Idaho Department of Water Resources Director David Tuthill.
If issued, given the present mitigation plan, the curtailment orders could affect ground water rights bearing priority dates junior to May 10, 1983 for the Blue Lakes call and junior to June 9, 1975 for the Clear Springs call. This includes 771 ground water rights for irrigation, commercial, industrial, municipal, non-exempt domestic and stockwater, and other consumptive uses. Non-consumptive and culinary in-house uses of water will not be subject to curtailment under the orders.
A water call is made when the holder of a senior water right experiences a shortfall in the amount of water the holder is entitled to receive and is beneficially using in accordance with law. The call is made on the water source. Under the conjunctive management rules, the Department will then require the holders of junior water rights to mitigate the effects of their diversions or stop diverting water in order to allow more water to satisfy the senior right.
Information on the curtailment orders can be found on the Idaho Department of Water Resources’ web site at www.idwr.idaho.gov under the headings “Major Issues” and “What’s New.” The web site features maps of the affected areas, copies of the letters issued to water rights holders, legal documents, and related links.
For more information at the Idaho Department of Water Resources web site, click here.