As I sat down to write this article, the skies opened and poured down a torrent of rain, punctuated by thunder and lightning. Water is abundant on this planet, yet getting it to the right place to support human flourishing has vexed mankind since the dawn of civilization. The Romans reached a high level of development in part because they mastered the art of moving water efficiently from its source to where people lived. Many of their aqueducts, such as the Pont du Gard in France, still stand today, a testament to Roman ingenuity.
Photo credit Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr) - Pont du Gard, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33474941
Without the ability to manipulate water, southern Idaho would still be a desert. Our forefathers constructed a series of wells, canals, and reservoirs that turned the desert into a place where two million people could comfortably live, as well as producing plentiful food on farms, pastures, and dairies.
Water is a scarce resource. That doesn’t mean we’re on the verge of running out anytime soon; rather it means that water is finite, and we must figure out how to share it between all who need it: the homeowner extracting water from the aquifer via a well, the hydroelectric dam generating electricity, the farmer watering his fields, the data center cooling its facilities, and more.
Last year, this process reached a crisis point when the Idaho Dept. of Water Resources (DWR) issued curtailment orders to users in six groundwater districts that had not submitted approved plans for mitigation. I wrote about the issue at the time, with a follow-up article a few weeks later. One of the central issues at hand is figuring out how to share water between surface water users and groundwater users. As I wrote last year:
We are still figuring out the many ways in which surface water and groundwater are related. Surface water can seep into the ground, recharging the aquifer, while springs can feed surface water as well. One of the claims made in the viral videos is that rivers and reservoirs are full, so how could their possibly be a shortage that demands mitigation or curtailment? The answer is that aquifers recharge much more slowly than surface water, meaning it’s possible to have a full reservoir at the same time as a dwindling aquifer.
For the past thirty years or so, Idaho has been managing groundwater and surface water concerns under a doctrine called conjunctive use. Previously, these two sources of water were regulated separately, but as we learn more about how they are intertwined it makes sense to manage them in such a way that takes that interaction into account.
This is where water rights come into play. Idaho regulates water rights according to a doctrine called prior appropriation, better known as first in time, first in right. Generally this means that whoever began using a water source earliest has first dibs on that water. These water rights are usually attached to properties, so farmers, companies, or individuals inherit them when they purchase new land.
Last November, Gov. Brad Little announced the final completion of a new water agreement between surface and groundwater users. The agreement was lauded by both Alan Hansten, chair of the Surface Water Coalition, and Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, who chairs the Idaho Groundwater Appropriators.
According to T.J. Budge, an attorney for the Idaho Groundwater Association, many of the issues between surface and groundwater users stemmed from ambiguity in previous agreements. He was quoted by Idaho Ag Proud as stating that the new agreement clarified many more details regarding implementation, which should mitigate future conflicts. The article goes into more detail about the specifics of the new agreement, if you’re interested.
Earlier this year, the Legislature approved an additional $30 million for water infrastructure in Idaho. Debate against the appropriation centered on existing money that was already allocated for water projects, but the bill nevertheless passed easily, as a majority of legislators believed it was necessary to address the issues that had come to a head last year. A few weeks later, Gov. Little issued a press release highlighting the way in which the Idaho Water Resource Board had chosen to spend the new money:
Meeting water budget targets: Groundwater districts (GWDs) are required to reduce consumption by 205,000 acre-feet of water per year, averaged over four years.
The GWDs can reach those targets by implementing Groundwater to Surface Water conversion projects, private aquifer recharge projects and more.
Last December, the IWRB approved the first round of GW to SW conversion projects for $13.1 million, including four projects awarded to the Bingham GW District, three to the Bonneville-Jefferson GW District and three to the Magic Valley GW District.
Boosting water efficiencies by the Surface Water Coalition water users in the Magic Valley. A new grant program will incentivize water efficiencies and conservation, without reducing incidental recharge to the ESPA. This helps reduce conflicts between the groundwater users and surface water users.
Tracking water consumption on the monthly basis for all water users. The IWRB awarded the first round of Telemetry and Water Monitoring Grants for a total of $566,504 to 11 recipients, including the Bingham GWD, Magic Valley GWD, and Twin Falls Canal Co. An additional $1M is available for water measurement and monitoring by water users.
$5M for water projects that would boost Reach Gains in the Blackfoot to Minidoka area.
$2.5M for the Bingham GWD to develop a new aquifer recharge basin. The IWRB would be a partner in funding the site and receiving up to 50% of the recharge capacity when the Board’s recharge water right is in priority. The funding is contingent on the Bingham GWD approving the terms of the agreement for the new recharge basin.
Working to change the State Water Plan to increase the IWRB target to 350,000 acre feet for recharging the ESPA aquifer, on average, from a previous target of 250,000 acre-feet per year. The new ESPA recharge target was a key aspect of the 2024 Water Settlement Agreement.
Scheduled two more rounds of Aging Infrastructure Grants totaling $40 million to modernize water infrastructure in fiscal 2026 and 2027. The IWRB already has approved 90 Aging Infrastructure Grant projects for $56M, including numerous water-modernization projects in Eastern Idaho.
Continued funding for Regional Water Sustainability Projects, including $5M for projects that would increase Blackfoot to Minidoka Reach Gains.
In March, the Legislature passed Senate Joint Memorial 101, calling for increased cooperation between state and federal agencies to increase water storage options in Idaho:
…we encourage the Bureau of Reclamation, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Governor of the State of Idaho, the Idaho Water Resource Board, the Idaho Department of Water Resources, and other federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate with the residents of the State of Idaho in updating or conducting studies to identify and construct additional water storage in Idaho, including reconstruction of the Teton Dam.
The memorial was sponsored by Sen. Kevin Cook, who has put out a call for support to urge the federal government and Idaho’s congressional delegation to make this a top priority.
The Teton Dam was built in the 1970s between Fremont and Madison Counties, but suffered a catastrophic failure shortly after beginning operation. Several towns were flooded, including Rexburg, and 11 people and 16,000 livestock were killed. The ruins of the dam remain to this day, a reminder of man’s hubris in the face of nature’s power.
Brian Murdock, a farmer from Blackfoot who was impacted by last year’s curtailment order, wrote a letter to our congressional delegation urging support for SJM101. He copied the letter on Facebook:
We need that water to address the immediate needs only surface water/reservoirs can solve. The aquifer does not have controls. However, we can control spillways and floodgates on surface reservoirs.
However, the aquifer also needs those additional reservoirs. It's the same timing issue. We can not recharge the aquifer with all the water available during the spring runoff; we don't have that capacity and probably never will. So, the same reservoir that will solve the immediate problem of lack of water for crops will also help replenish the aquifer by allowing recharge throughout the year rather than a few weeks.
Former state representative Karey Hanks reposted Murdock’s letter on her Substack newsletter, echoing his call for more water infrastructure:
I’m sharing a recent Facebook post from Brian Murdock, who has been attempting to work with Gov. Little, Lt. Governor Bedke, and Idaho legislators, to preserve water for eastern Idaho farmers, and work out water issues to benefit us all. Millions of acre feet of water run over the Milner Dam (near Burley) and are lost to our use. The legislature addressed a few of the issues through legislation in 2025.
Water is a complex issue, and it will only grow more complicated as Idaho continues to expand. It’s not just new farms or residents, either—high-tech facilities like Micron’s microchip plant in Boise and Meta’s data center in Kuna will also add pressure to our water supply. According to a report from New York, Micron’s facility alone could use up to 48 million gallons of water per day once fully operational.
This is where we stand today with regard to water in the Gem State. I believe God created the world and its resources for our use, but with that comes the awesome responsibility to steward them wisely, both for ourselves and for future generations. The decisions our elected leaders make about water management will echo for decades, which is why it’s so important to help them make sound choices, and to put the right people in positions of authority.
I’m not an expert in the field of water management, so I can only listen to different people who are and try to make sense of it all. I hope this article was helpful in updating you about the state of water in Idaho, and perhaps giving you some information to share with your own elected officials. We all need water to live. Let’s ensure we sustain life and civilization here in Idaho for generations to come.
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Without water, Southern Idaho will return to desert, so use it wisely.
My understanding is that conjunctive use management is only used in the area of the eastern snake river aquifer, and not in other parts of Idaho.