10/23/07 IDWR issues curtailment notices

The Idaho Department of Water Resources sent out 27 hundred letters last week to Magic Valley groundwater well owners advising them of a potential curtailment next spring. State water director David Tuthill says there are two potential scenarios at play here. TUTHILL "If we have a water year that's in the neighborhood of 105 percent, in other words just a little bit better than normal, that the reservoirs should fill and we'll have sufficient water to supply the needs for the surface water coalition rights, those are the ones that are diverted from the Snake River." Then there's the flip side, the potential for another dry winter with below normal amounts of snow and rain. That could lead to a curtailment order from Tuthill. TUTHILL "We do have a possibility of curtailments for the Thousand Springs water rights really not so much depending on the water year but depending more on what happens with the upcoming hearing that's intended to begin on November 28th." Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald Schroeder will weigh arguments and evidence from the pumpers and senior users during what is expected to be a two week long hearing. He'll have to decide just how much water pumpers owe to senior users. No matter the outcome of that hearing it seems likely one side or the other will appeal the decision. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott