Idaho panel to ask Otter for special session on water fight

Key legislative leaders have promised to urge Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter to call a special session to resolve a longstanding water battle.

Special sessions are rare in Idaho, with only 28 being held since the state’s inception.

However, members on the Natural Resources Interim Committee unanimously agreed Wednesday that the ongoing legal challenges surrounding a Treasure Valley water dispute are serious enough to call lawmakers back to Boise to help settle the tensions in the Boise River system reservoirs – which spans from Boise to Parma.

In Idaho, only the governor can call a special session.

Otter was traveling in eastern Idaho on Wednesday. His spokesman, Jon Hanian, did not immediately have a response to the committee’s decision to write Otter a letter pushing for a special session.