Groundwater recharge surpasses records

The Idaho Water Resources Board has approved spending $2.15 million to better characterize the hydrogeology of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) and the Big Lost River Basin. The funding comes through the U.S. Department of Energy and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

The board said the money would be used to develop 20 additional wells to expand the ESPA monitoring network. The network provides information about consumptive water use and ground water levels in the aquifer.

During meetings this week, the board estimated that 440,000 acre-feet of water will be recharged into the aquifer by the end of the current year. That is 76 percent more than the annual recharge goal of 250,000 acre-feet.

With one month left to go in the recharge season, the board has recharged more than 350,000 acre-feet of water from the Upper Snake River Valley and Magic Valley regions.

“We’re breaking new records every day now,” said recharge program manager Wesley Hipke.

Hipke credited surplus water in the Upper Snake reservoir system and additional recharge site capacity to a successful recharge season.