18Sep 2023 by Nicole Rinaldi

New committee takes on Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer

Idaho News
By Bill Schaefer; Capital Press POCATELLO, Idaho — A diverse group of 13 water users met Sept. 13 to review the 2015 agreement between groundwater and surface water users and its impact on the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. The group's job is to draft amendments to the agreement or a new management plan that will help restore the aquifer without harming senior or junior water rights holders. IDWR Director Gary Spackman tasked James Cefalo, the IDWR eastern regional manager, with organizing the advisory committee. In 2016, Spackman designated the aquifer as a Ground Water Management Area. A GWMA designates all or part of a groundwater basin that may be approaching conditions of a Critical Ground Water Area. Idaho aquifer Under a GWMA, applications for new water appropriations may be approved…
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03Apr 2023 by Nicole Rinaldi

U.S. Geological Survey to measure water levels in southern Idaho’s Snake River Plain

Idaho News
By Mia Maldonado; Idaho Capital Sun The U.S. Geological Survey announced it will soon begin measuring groundwater levels across southern Idaho, according to a Monday press release. Survey employees working with the Idaho Department of Water Resources and the Bureau of Reclamation will measure groundwater levels in more than 1,400 private and public wells in the eastern Snake River Plain between April 3-14. The region’s aquifer is the area’s primary source of drinking water and irrigation for 1 million acres of farmland in the state aquaculture industry, according to the news release. The collected data will help water experts understand the status of the aquifer ahead of the irrigation season, and the IDWR will use the data to improve its computer model of the aquifer. Water technicians collect aquifer measurements…
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