Aquifer recharge expected to increase this winter
The Idaho Water Resource Board predicts more than 100,000 acre-feet of water will be recharged into the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer this winter. The actual amount of recharge will be monitored based on available river flows and snowpack levels.
Idaho Department of Water Resources Recharge Project Manager Wesley Hipke provided the update this week. “Our target is to recharge 108,000 acre-feet of water if everything comes together,” he said. “If things go well, we could beat that number.”
The Water Board’s water right for recharge of the aquifer came into priority October 25. Last year, the target flow was about 68,000 feet. The long-term goal is 250,000 acre-feet of water.
All of the recharge is expected to occur on mid-Snake River projects, Hipke said upper Snake River system reservoirs are very low, so the board is not expecting surplus water to be available for recharge in the Upper Snake.
An American Falls Reservoir project near Shoshone is currently recharging 200-250 cubic feet per second. It expects that to increase to 400-500 cfs in December after a construction project is completed.
