Bonneville County commissioners pass mining moratorium on water recharge projects
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IDAHO FALLS — The Bonneville County commissioners have passed a moratorium on processing applications for mining operations for water recharge projects, the county announced Monday afternoon.
Residents had expressed their concerns to the commissioners on April 1, when the moratorium was taken under advisement.
The moratorium went into effect on April 7.
The moratorium will put an 182-day long pause until a new ordinance is created to address the lack of a regional permitting process to protect landowners. The moratorium can end early by a roll-call vote.
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Over the past year, the state of Idaho has pursued water recharge projects across the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer to restore the vital resource.
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The recharge projects on Idaho Highway 26 have been recharge basins that take diverted water from canals and store it while recharging the aquifer.
The 40-acre Southfork Recharge Basin along State Highway 26 is expected to recharge 240 acre-feet of water per day into the aquifer.
During the public hearing on April 1, Commissioner Michelle Mallard said part of the issue with the water studies done by the state only focused on the hydrology aspect of the locations and not other effects.
According to the moratorium, the current recharge projects and their associated mining operations have “been found to be causing adverse effects on the public health, safety, and welfare.”
It states public roads getting damaged, pollution through the noise, dust and gravel, and traffic safety concerns over the vehicles used on the roadways.
Homeowners Dana and Darla Miller spoke with EastIdahoNews.com in March about how the Enterprize recharge project on the corner of 55th East and Idaho Highway 26 has affected their home and water tank.
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During the hearing, the issues these projects have caused ranged from damage to roads and, for the Millers, sand entering their water tanks.
Also, the closure of North 105th East, according to Austin Black, the director of the Bonneville County Planning and Zoning Committee, was caused by the hauling of materials off-site from a recharge project near Ririe that damaged the road.
Lance Bates, Bonneville County director of public works, said in the meeting that one semi-truck hauling a load of material is equivalent to a million passenger cars driving on the road.
Mallard said the Idaho Water Resource Board had assured that from now on, it would require county permits before moving forward with any new projects for the aquifer recharge.
“The problems that we’ve experienced and brought to their attention with the Progressive and Enterprize recharge basins on (Idaho) Highway 26,” Mallard said.
“These problems have been a nuisance for everyone in this room, but it was also a learning process. I do believe that everyone has learned from that process,” Mallard said.
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