Aquifer recharge goals fall short

The Idaho Water Resources Board projects water managers will recharge about 190,000 acre-feet of water to the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer this winter.

Recharge project manager Wesley Hipke said that will be short of the annual goal of 250,000 acre-feet. He said that’s because of construction and maintenance issues on participating canals that typically wheel the water to ESPA recharge basins.

Hipke said there is a chance that increased flows may be available later in the winter, depending on precipitation and reservoir releases.

In other action, the board reported it had rented 70,000 acre-feet of water from the Water Supply Bank last year to 103 water users across the state. The board’s Water Bank allows water users with surplus water to lease water to the bank. The board then rents that water out to water users who need extra water.

The top contributors from the which the water was rented are the Snake River Basin, between Milner Dam and the Murphy Gage, the Henry’s Fork basin, Blackfoot River, Raft River and Big Wood River.