The landscape of Elmore County, Idaho, seems a barren one. If you stand on the south side of Ditto Creek Road just west of the Chevron station, where Exit 90 off Interstate 84 takes you onto the east-bound lane of the old Idaho Highway 30, and you look north, you see the Boise Range. Beyond this lies the Sawtooth National Forest and the acres of trees, streams, and mountains contained therein, beckoning those inclined to explore the outdoors. To the southeast lies a seemingly endless flow of sagebrush, and to the southwest the treeless Owyhee Mountains greet the eyes. To a newcomer, this region may appear barren and without hope. However, no one knows what is possible on this land more than the farmers of the Elmore County, who for decades have been pulling water from the ground in order to establish and maintain a thriving agricultural community. The county, with a population of 25,000, many of whom are tied to the Mountain Home Air Force Base, produces $300 million in agricultural sales annually (USDA 2012). Elmore County is one of those places that makes Idaho the highest per capita agricultural state in the nation, producing more per person than any other state in the nation. Just outside of the county seat of Mountain Home run the long, dusty roads that line the fields producing beets, potatoes, and cattle feed, alongside the newly arrived dairies from Californiaâs Central Valley. These agricultural operations are only possible because of the free flow of water. But that system of surface and ground water is under great strain.
The aquifer underlying this rich agricultural zone is quickly being depleted. Since the 1960s, the aquifer level, depending on where it is measured, has lost between 100 and 200 feet. Each year has seen a three to five-feet reduction, as some 79,000 acre feet (AF) are pulled from the ground annually (State of Idaho 2016). This drop in water level has resulted in many water users having to invest in well drilling or abandon their wells altogether. Wells that were once productive at 100 feet have had to be dug deeper, costing the countyâs farmers thousands of dollars. Late-season pumping has become more complicated, as the surface water supplies that many growers have used to supplement their ground supplies are also running short. The Mountain Home Irrigation District, which supplies thousands of acre feet of water to the countyâs growers, historically has been able to offer water from its two major reservoirs until September, with a dry year here and there. However, as illustrated by Table 1.1, in recent years this irrigation district has cut off the water supply as early as late June.
Table 1.1
Mountain home Idaho irrigation district delivery and cutoff history
Year | Total delivery (acre feet) | Cutoff date |
|---|---|---|
2011 | 11,794.56 | 30-September |
2012 | 12,957.84 | 30-September |
2013 | 4,655.78 | 26-June |
2014 | 4,642.88 | 23-June |
2015 | 4,930.22 | 5-July |
2016 | 8,728.00 | 7-August |
In March 2016, fearing aquifer collapse, the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) issued an order creating a new water district for the Mountain Home area (Water District 161), which included much of Elmore County. Idaho law authorizes the director of the IDWR to create water districts to manage the distribution of water to water right holders. Given that the Mountain Home area had been under a previous water management plan dating back to the early 1980s, combined with the continued reduction in the aquifer level, the state argued that the new district was ânecessary in order to properly administer ground water rights within the proposed water district boundaryâ (State of Idaho 2016). Later in 2016, IDWR issued another order, this time requiring measuring devices for the 365 wells within the water district by 2019 (State of Idaho 2016). The state outlined an approved list of meter devices, several of which can cost several thousand dollars each, depending on model and size. The meter requirement added to the financial strain on the districtâs users: The funds for the new water district are being drawn from water users, and each member has been assessed an annual fee based on how much water they use. Although surface water users pay roughly $75.00 for an acre-foot from the Mountain Home Irrigation District, and nothing for groundwater, it is unlikely those prices will be maintained. While there have been some pushback and phone complaints to the IDWR offices about the creation of the new district, in general, opposition to the new water management plan and the implementation of the new water district has been minimal. However, IDWR officials believe this will change in 2019 when users will actually have to purchase a meter or face their water being cut off (Western State Response to Unauthorized Water Use-Idaho Interview). After 2019, IDWR will monitor groundwater use and start determining who needs to cease pulling water from the ground if there is no stabilization of the aquifer. It is at that moment that the State of Idaho will have to make some tough choices, which may include denying new water right development, reviewing the beneficial use among the water users in the district, cutting off junior water right holders, or allowing the aquifer to continue to decline.
Elmore County was concerned enough with both the decline of the aquifer and the state action regarding it, that it took a significant and unpopular action: It applied for a trans-basin water transfer. Directly north of Mountain Home, but before the Boise Range, is the South Fork of the Boise River. The South Fork is nestled deep in a canyon, just beyond a ridge that rises above the small city. Regarded as an excellent fly fishing spot in a state known for them, the stretch of the South Fork below the Anderson Ranch Reservoir is the place where Elmore County officials proposed to withdraw 200 cubic feet per second of water up over the ridge and down into the reservoirs of the Mountain Home Irrigation District, with a limit of 10,000 acre feet a year (State of Idaho 2016). The project requires the construction of a pumping facility that will raise water out of the Boise River some hundreds of feet over the ridge, costing some unknown millions of dollars. Not a drastic measure for a community whose livelihood is dependent on agricultural productivity.
Meanwhile, the community works to adjust to the new regulatory structure that will rest on the capacity of IDWR to obtain compliance from the water users in the county. While there is no inherent reason to suspect that many will dismiss the new regulations and pump unauthorized water from their wells, IDWR will need to direct their enforcement activities to ensure compliance with the metered wells and to enact a system of punishments for those who violate it, or at least the appearance of the capacity to do so. While IDWR has been working to enforce compliance on water rights for decades, this is a new group of groundwater use...