Your attendance is strongly encouraged at town hall addressing Idaho’s ongoing water dispute
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IDAHO FALLS – Weeks after a temporary solution was reached in the water curtailment dispute, many still have questions about the issue and wonder what needs to happen to avoid a future conflict.
The Region 10 Republican Party, which includes GOP members in Bingham, Bonneville and Jefferson counties, is hosting a public town hall Wednesday night to give people a chance to address their concerns and ask questions. It’s happening at 7 p.m. inside the Melaleuca Event Center at 4609 West 65th South in Idaho Falls.
Stephanie Mickelsen, a legislator for District 32 and chairwoman of the Bonneville-Jefferson Ground Water District, is one of four people who will be speaking at the event.
She tells EastIdahoNews.com that local party leaders have received numerous calls about water issues over the last several months and thought it would be appropriate to bring everyone together at a public forum.
“It’s all the talk around town, and people want to understand what’s going on. They felt like this was a way for people to come together, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, to understand a serious problem facing our region,” Mickelsen says.
Although there is a sense of urgency to create a longterm plan before the October deadline, Mickelsen says the meeting isn’t about coming up with an agreement. It’s more about putting a decades-long dispute in context, how it became such a contentious issue and how it impacts the local economy.
Under Idaho law, surface water users in Magic Valley have senior water rights over groundwater users in eastern Idaho. Groundwater users are required to have a plan for recharging the aquifer during times of shortages.
Earlier this year, the Idaho Department of Water Resources projected a shortage of 74,100 acre-feet of water for the Twin Falls Canal Company.
A May 29 water curtailment order from the department, which would have removed water for about 330,000 acres in eastern Idaho, came about because groundwater users in Bingham, Bonneville, Jefferson and Clark counties were found to be noncompliant with their end of the bargain, a plan for recharging the aquifer.
Under the temporary plan, groundwater districts will conserve 240,000 acre-feet of water and deliver 50,000 acre-feet of storage water to the Surface Water Coalition to cover the shortage, as stated in the 2016 mitigation plan. The parties also agreed to recognize groundwater districts’ prior water conservation efforts, which the SWC disputed in the past.
RELATED | Governor signs order requiring water users reach permanent solution in conflict
Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order earlier this month requiring the parties to reach a longterm solution by Oct. 1. He called on the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Groundwater Management Plan Advisory Council, which the IDWR created in August 2023, to submit a management plan to the department for review, per Idaho law, by Sept. 1.
During Wednesday’s forum, Mickelsen will give a presentation about the current agreement between surface and groundwater users and the current state of affairs between the two parties.
Melaleuca Executive Chairman Frank VanderSloot, who has publicly come out in support of local farmers who faced water curtailment, spoke with EastIdahoNews.com several times about this issue in the last month. He will kick off Wednesday night’s discussion.
Others who will be speaking include Bruce Loertscher, a state committeeman for the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee. He has one of the oldest water rights in the state of Idaho dating back to 1874. It applies to about 200 acres in the Bone area where he lives. He’ll provide some background on how water rights work.
Loertscher says water management is his biggest concern in this discussion.
“I’m not sure it’s being managed correctly,” he says.
Another person, whom Mickelsen did not name, will provide ideas and suggestions on what needs to happen to “keep everyone in business.”
In an email about the upcoming forum, Bonneville County Republican Central Committee precinct officer Rodd Rapp emphasized the “crippling” effect a future curtailment would have on the state’s economy and its impact on every resident.
He’s encouraging everyone to attend the meeting, share insights and provide input so “wise decisions” can be made going forward.
“This issue is far from being solved and will need legislative action to address the decades-long problem dating back to 1996 when the groundwater and surface water systems were legally combined as one entity. A permanent solution must be found in order to preserve our way of life in eastern Idaho,” Rapp writes. “I encourage you to attend this town hall to learn of options and proposals and to share your insight. We need your input. Wise decisions are made by hearing from our constituents.”