129 Southern Idaho Water Users Warned of Curtailment
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX)-Ground water pumpers in the Magic Valley and eastern Idaho have been given notice of possible water curtailment this June if they are not part of a water mitigation plan.
The Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) announced Wednesday that letters had been sent to 129 ground water pumpers in the area warning of possible shutoffs of their water use if they have not joined a water district with an approved mitigation plan. IDWR said in a statement that the notice impacts water users who have water rights junior to May 30, 1989. Water could be shutoff as early as June 3. “If a ground water user receives a notice of curtailment, that means neither IDWR nor the watermaster has received notice from IGWA that an approved mitigation plan covers the user’s water rights, or that they’re a participant in good standing with a ground water district that has an approved mitigation plan in the ESPA region,” said Mat Weaver, Deputy Director of IDWR in a prepared statement.
IDWR said the Upper Snake River Basin experience a very dry winter with below-normal snowpack. Runoff predicted by the Army Corps of Engineers-Bureau of Reclamation is at 75 percent of normal. IDWR said the curtailment notice relates to a water delivery call submitted by the Idaho Ground Water Coalition back in 2011. The water curtailments will not impact single family domestic use or small stockwater users in the impacted area, they are exempt from the curtailment order.
Those who have been served a curtailment order have 15 days to join a ground water district to avoid curtailment, according to IDWR.