Water curtailment solution meeting brings parties together

BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho (KXPI/KIFI) - Farmers, agriculture, and water all go together. You can't have one without the other, but what do farmers do without water? That was the discussion at a town hall meeting Wednesday night in Bonneville County.

The meeting was focused on water, more specifically, the recent water curtailment that happened earlier this spring, and how to fix it.

Agriculture is the lifeblood of Eastern Idaho. The local economy depends on it. And agriculture depends on water.

This spring, the Idaho Department of Water Resources demanded the water curtailment of 330,000 acres of Eastern Idaho farmland to supply the Magic Valley water users and to maintain and replenish the Snake Plain aquifer.

Twin Falls irrigators have primary water rights.

A temporarily agreement was made to get through this growing season, but a permanent, workable agreement still needs to be reached. That is the focus of bringing people together at this meeting. Lawmakers, farmers, community leaders, business men and women, and the public. All are affected.

Bonneville County Commissioner Jonathan Walker agreed, the local economy would take a major hit if farmland water is shut off.

"It's a deep reaching and complicated issue that will require great minds and a great deal of time to come to a solution on. It affects the economy. It affects. it affects the way we live, the way not only we live and our economy, but food producers across the state," said Walker from District 2.

But the question remains. How to come to a solution that benefits the groundwater users and surface water users, as to not impact business and the consumer? News anchor Todd Kunz asked State Representative Stephanie Mickelsen from District 32A in Idaho Falls, who has followed this issued from the beginning and comes from a family of farmers for many years.

"I think when I talk about solutions, I think it's for every year moving into the future. And if you'll take a long-term vision and figure out what the long-term solution is, you may have to suffer some small impacts in the short-term, but over time, if you make that resource of the aquifer healthy, then everybody will benefit in the long-term from the canal companies to the power companies to the groundwater users," said Rep. Mickelson.

Newman Giles is the President and CEO of Eagle Eye Produce in Iona. He said water is not the issue, it is the management of it. He said the old laws that were written in the 1800s are out of date and how we irrigated back then is not how we irrigate now. He said that his food production operation is conserving more water now than ever before.

"There is plenty of water for all Idahoans. There's there's plenty. It's about management of the water. There's, there's, there's mismanagement going on and, and we all have to do our part to manage it correctly. It's not just Eastern Idaho has to do it all. It's everybody, all Idahoans, all farmers and all ag," said Giles 

Giles would like to see the water curtailment issue get in front of the Idaho Legislature to address the old, antiquated laws.

Kunz talked with Idaho Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke at the meeting, he said he had come from a meeting in Bannock County. He said he felt positive about it. Kunz asked him again, as he has previously, about the Legislature seeing this issue in front of the lawmaker. Bedke said a solution still boils down to the two parties involved.