November 18, 2024 - OPINION: Idaho’s water future is flowing in the right direction

To spend one's life in agriculture is to be an optimist.

As a life-long rancher, I try to greet each day with a positive mindset and a firm belief that I can handle whatever the day throws at me. I also firmly believe that there are virtually no problems, no conflicts, no disagreements that are beyond a solution.

Idaho's newly-minted, farmer-crafted water agreement is a case in point. As Governor Little said, "…the goal all along was to avoid the heavy hand of government by bringing farmers to the table … and keep crops wet this year and into the future."

After a summer full of numerous meetings with many frank and honest discussions, I am pleased that Idaho now has an updated Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) mitigation plan that has been signed by both our senior surface water and junior groundwater users. This is a noteworthy accomplishment for many reasons: it puts to bed the decades-long conflict between our water users, it helps preserve and protect our most valuable resource, and it shows that even the thorniest problems can be solved through honest negotiation and relentless effort.

The honest negotiation and relentless effort came from farmers, ranchers, irrigators, and producers who came together under one roof to hash out their major point of contention: water availability. Gradually they all were able to set aside their own interests and realize that they shared a common goal: to protect our state's agricultural prosperity and ensure a sustainable water supply into the future.

We can no longer act like water is an unlimited resource. We live in the arid West, where water is always going to be in short supply. It's unfortunate we had to get as far as a potential curtailment to really address our water crisis. But water is a property right and it is the state's responsibility to ensure that property rights are protected. And while Idaho may be the fastest growing state and one of the top crop and dairy producers in the nation, we only have so much water to go around. The harsh reality of facing a possible curtailment made senior and junior water right holders realize that it was time to work together and find a solution.

Now, Idaho has an updated mitigation plan that we can all be proud of. The ESPA Mitigation Plan lays out achievable goals for all parties. Among its provisions:

• No more fighting - all parties have agreed to cease all pending litigation in this matter.
• Fairness - groundwater districts will now be evaluated individually and not collectively. The 2015 Mitigation Plan had said that if one of the nine groundwater districts failed to comply with the plan's agreed-upon terms, then all nine districts were jointly at fault. The 2024 Plan makes each groundwater pumper responsible for themselves only.
• Averaging - rather than having annual allotments, farmers using groundwater will now take their water share in four-year increments. This empowers the farmers to make management decisions that fit their crop rotations.
• Conserving the water - collectively, groundwater districts must conserve 205,000 acre-feet of water annually to help preserve the health of the aquifer. The districts can also now include private recharge, not only as a tool to meet conservation efforts but also as a means to increase their water allocations.
• Measurement - accurate, timely measurement practices are now required of all water users. It's impossible to administer anything that we're not accurately measuring.

The ESPA Mitigation Plan is a binding legal agreement. We think it is well crafted and durable enough to stand the test of time, but the water users and the state will review the plan in four years to see how it has fared.

I am very grateful to Jeff Raybould, Chair of the Idaho Water Resources Board, whose help in these critical negotiations was invaluable. I especially commend our water users for their determination and their willingness to set aside their own preconceived notions in order to understand the needs of their regional neighbors. I am thankful that all parties involved were able to cooperate in developing a path forward that puts the long-term health of our state and our people first.

This is the true Idaho way. We may still have some obstacles to overcome, but these past few months of negotiations have proven to me that by listening to each other and finding common ground, we can balance the needs of our agricultural producers, our communities, and our future generations.

The age-old saying remains true: we are stronger together.