20Jul 2023 by Nicole Rinaldi

Water use soaring

Idaho News
By Bill Buley; Coeur d'Alene-Post Falls Press A sprinkler sprays water on a Coeur d'Alene lawn on Monday. Bill Buley COEUR d'ALENE — In June, the city of Coeur d'Alene pumped 780.8 million gallons of water.  If that sounds like a lot, it is.  That was 350 million gallons more than the same month last year when the city pumped 430.8 million gallons. Terry Pickel, Coeur d'Alene water department director, attributes the soaring water use to hot and dry conditions and residents' efforts to keep lawns green by running sprinklers. July is shaping up much the same.  "I would certainly expect to see a significant July increase as temps are soaring," he wrote in an email to The Press on Monday. The city is considering a water conservation ordinance to…
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27Dec 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

About Facebook Kuna’s power, water, tax incentives, employees, roads — and urban renewal

Idaho News
By Margaret Carmel; BoiseDev Proposed data center for Meta Platforms Inc. in Kuna, Idaho. Via Meta Facebook’s parent company Meta announced this week it’s bringing a new data center to town and with it came a slew of questions. Two years after Governor Brad Little signed legislation giving a tax break for data centers, Meta announced to great fanfare its plans to bring a facility to Kuna and bring 1,200 jobs and water infrastructure with it. But, how will this project impact industrial growth east of Kuna? What will Meta’s promised water project look like? Here’s what we know (and don’t know) so far. Water, water, water There are still a lot of unanswered questions about Meta’s promise to “add more water than we consume” to Boise’s watershed. Aaron Scheff,…
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15Mar 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

Ketchum joins coalition to help preserve water sources

Idaho News
By Andrew Guckes; Idaho Mountain Express On Monday Ketchum became the final city in the Wood River Valley to approve a term sheet proposed by the Idaho Department of Water Resources that requires each party to put forth funds to combat water shortages and help preserve groundwater aquifers in the area. The deal includes Sun Valley Co. and the Sun Valley Water and Sewer District, in addition to the cities of Ketchum, Sun Valley, Hailey and Bellevue. For the next three years, each of those parties will contribute $10 per acre-foot of groundwater diversions to the newly formed Conservation, Infrastructure and Efficiency Fund, which will be managed by a specially formed committee. They have agreed to also pay $3.60 per acre-foot of groundwater diversions to cloud-seeding projects that directly benefit…
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