Recent storms not stopping Henry’s Fork Watershed Council from discussing drought

Thanks to a series of fall storms, eastern Idaho’s water year is off to a positive start. That’s good news for the everyone in the region, but it hasn’t stopped the Henry’s Fork Watershed Council from talking about drought and water management.

“Drought is always a concern,” said Mike Beus, a Water Operations Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation. “It’s pretty early in this snow year accumulation season to say very much. We only have 20 percent of the snow season behind us.”

Today’s discussions in Rexburg hosted several water experts from surrounding states. The hope was to learn new ideas and opinions on how to better plan and adapt to droughts.

“We looked at neighboring states how did they plan for drought, what are they currently doing, what kind of indicators do they use,” said Brandon Hoffner, the Henry’s Fork Foundation Executive Director. “We just tried to learn from those folks and then we brought it home to Idaho.”

Hoffner said a lot of the ideas revolved around saving water early and adapting to dryer conditions before a drought sets in. He also said sustainable water use is a major goal for the river basin. “Sustainability is really about making sure the water resources we have now meet our current and that we’re planning for the future,” said Hoffner.

Besides drought, water experts discussed river flows, fish habitats, irrigation needs, municipal demand, and future storage options.

Having more storage in particular was a major topic as currently the only major storage basin in the Henry’s Fork river basin is the Island Park Reservoir.

Hoffner said they would like to have more options to save water when they need it most. “It’s not always just about how much water or how much snow we get,” said Hoffner. “Some of it can be about timing. That can lead to drought conditions.”

The past two years in particular have seen spring runoff happen earlier than normal. As a result, irrigation and water releases happened earlier from the Island Park Dam, meaning reservoir levels dropped more than usual.

Currently their are no immediate on how to store more water, but experts are looking at a number of options including more effective use of the underground aquifers.

The Henry’s Fork Watershed Council meets on a regular basis to stay up-to-date on the region’s water needs.