09/11/08 IDWR board to tour Minidoka Dam

The Idaho Water Resource Board is on a field trip today. At their work session board members will tour the Minidoka Dam and discuss the possibility of raising the dam height by five feet. The Bureau of Reclamation is already conducting a feasibility study for the additional 55 thousand acre feet of water storage according to IDWR's Hal Anderson. ANDERSON "The spillway needs to be replaced and the Bureau was going to have to make an investment in that study of replacing that spillway anyways so we had a short window of opportunity here to well if you're going to look at that let's also look at the opportunity possibly to raise it another five feet." Anderson says there are still many unanswered questions about the Minidoka project like what happens with the wildlife refuge. What about Interstate 84, how is it impacted? As those issues are discussed over the next year or two water board members will have a better understanding of the issues. ANDERSON "If it comes back as a feasible project and the state wants to invest in enlarging it we'll at least have some idea how much it's going to cost and whether or not we can afford it." Also on today's agenda is a review of the Comprehensive Aquifer Management Planning process which is an effort to adjust the water budget of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. The plan is supposed to be submitted to the legislature early next year. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott