Water Resource Board celebrates aquifer recharge
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK)-For the fourth year in a row, the Idaho Water Resource Board has exceeded its goals to recharge an average 250,000 acre-feet of water into the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer this winter.
Idaho Department of Water Resources Director Gary Spackman said the board recharged approximately 447,950 acre-feet of water into the aquifer.
“I want to congratulate the Board for the great work you’ve done,” Spackman said. “It’s just a remarkable accomplishment.”
According to recharge program manager Wesley Hipke, the board recharged 83,984 acre-feet of water over 74 days in the Upper Snake Valley. 364,000 acre-feet were recharged in the Magic Valley region over 202 days. Two new recharge sites were added this year. One at Milepost 29 on the Milner Gooding Canal and Wilson Canyon on the North Side Canal.
Hipke said his staff is making investments for development of off-canal recharge sites in the Egin Lakes and Butte-Market Lake areas in the Upper Snake Valley. Those sites are intended to increase flexibility and recharge capacity.
According to the Water Resource Board, the aquifer had been over-drafted by about 200,000 acre-feet of water per year. Aquifer levels have been declining since the 1950’s. A 2015 agreement between the Surface Water Coalition and Idaho Ground Water Appropriators has led to a reduction in groundwater pumping of about 240,000 acre-feet per year.
“We know that drought years will be coming in the future, so we have to exceed our recharge goal in wet years to stay on track with our long-term goals,” Hipke said.
The Board paid canal companies and irrigation districts $3.46 million in the winter of 2019-20 to use canal water-conveyance systems to move water to ESPA recharge sites.
