Water Rights in South Central Idaho
By now, you’ve probably heard about the water rights issue going on in South Central Idaho. Hundreds of groundwater users have been put on hold by Idaho Department of Water Resources Director Dave Tuthill because of Idaho’s laws regarding seniority rights to water. The showdown results from a water delivery call made in 2005 by Clear Springs which raises a huge number of rainbow trout in their fish farm. Clear Springs Foods has seniority when it comes to water rights but hold the presses. This just in from Water Director Tuthill.
“The groundwater districts have proposed a plan to provide water directly to Clear Springs Snake River farm and that water would be obtained by using well water from above the rim and bringing that water over the rim directly into the intake of Clear Springs Snake River farm. The requirement is that if they can mitigate the loss by Snake River Farm then the junior pumpers can continue to pump. The proposal does have some concerns. For example, what will happen with the temperature of the water as it’s pumped out of the aquifer and brought over the rim, what about water quality, what’s the reliability of the source, and how soon can this water be provided to Snake River Farm.”
