Aquifer recharge hits 80-year record
The Idaho Water Resource Board said Friday the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) experienced the single largest increase in water volume in more than 80 years this year. As a result of the board’s managed aquifer recharge program, farmers stored 1.7 million acre-feet through reduced water use, private aquifer-recharge efforts, increased tributary flows and natural seepage.
Idaho Department of Water Resources engineer and hydro-geologist Mike McVay said the volume increase was calculated from the measurements of more than 350 wells across the ESPA region. 545,000 acre-feet went into the aquifer over the winter of 2017-18 and more than 317,000 during the winter of 2016-17. The board’s goal is an average of 250,000 acre-feet.
“We’ve had a significant uptick,” McVay said. “But we have to remember that this is a long-term proposition, and this is a good start. We need to build the aquifer back to sustainable levels over time.”
Prior to last winter, the Water Resource Board estimated the aquifer was being over-drafted by about 200,000 acre-feet per year.
The stakes are high. ESPA water drives the economy in eastern Idaho and the Magic Valley, serving agriculture, industry, manufacturing plants, municipal uses and drinking water for more than 400,000 residents.
Deputy Department of Water Resources Director Mat Weaver credited farmers participating in a 2015 water settlement agreement. “The reductions and private recharge that have occurred as a result of the settlement agreement have been hugely impactful,” he said.
