10/22/07 Eastern Snake Plain aquifer recharge

It started on Saturday at Milner Dam in the Magic Valley. The North Side Canal company has provided the use of its canal system, manpower and equipment for an aquifer recharge project that will continue for about a month. The goal is to direct water from the canal through the aquifer toward the Thousand Springs reach on the Snake River. That recharge water was purchased by the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators and the Idaho Dairymen's Association as part of a mitigation agreement last summer that averted a water curtailment. Northside Canal's Ted Diehl says normally at this time of year he's shut down the system for annual maintenance. DIEHL "Puts us kind of in a bind. Now I'm going to have to wait a month and hope the winter doesn't freeze me out completely." So how much water will go from the canal into the aquifer? DIEHL "Be right honest with you I don't know how much or where we'll lose it." Diehl says that's the irony of the recharge; Northside has spent a lot of time and money to prevent leaks and now leaks are what's needed. The Idaho Department of Water Resources will monitor the recharge effort and use various flow measuring devises to determine where the water enters the aquifer. That information will also help hydrologists understand the interaction between the canal system and the aquifer. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott