Idaho suspends Snake Plain Aquifer recharge program

Effective today, the Snake Plain Aquifer recharge program has been suspended. The Idaho Water Resource Board took the action to accommodate efforts to fill the reservoir system. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is decreasing flows below Minidoka Dam to meet irrigation demand. Flows past Milner Dam will be at or near zero today to enable filling Upper Snake Basin reservoirs. If conditions change and the Bureau of Reclamation allows additional flows past Milner Dam, the board will reassess managed recharge opportunities. More than 300,000 acre-feet of water have been recharged into the East Snake Plain Aquifer since last October. The Upper Snake River Valley recharged 135,000 acre-feet of water. A matching amount was recharged in the greater Magic Valley area and another 38,000 acre-feet were recharged from the Big Wood River system. The Big Wood Canal Company will continue its recharge efforts with surplus flows from the Big and Little Wood rivers as long as the company’s recharge water right is in priority this spring.