History of Idaho’s water

Here’s how it happened. The first concern of people moving into unchartered territory is the water supply. The timeline below begins in the early 1800s, nearly two hundred years ago. The text is modified from information provided by Google. Just enter “history of water Idaho” and you can find every reference preserved.
Here are some events [...]

Idaho water reservoir supply

The main reservoirs in southern Idaho report plenty of water, as follows:
Lake Lowell, 74% full
Cascade, 59% full
Arrowrock, 33% full
Lucky Peak, 28% full
Anderson Ranch, 65% full
Deadwood, 59% full
(The above numbers were provided by Rocky Barker for the Idaho Statesman, November 5, 2009, edition.)
But that’s not the whole story. Idaho’s agricultural businesses and families depend heavily on snow for [...]

Drinking well water

In the 1960s my parents bought a house built in the mid 1850s. It was a small house surrounded by twenty acres of grazing and crop land. In back of the house was a well. Nobody knows how long the well had been there, but my parents relied totally on the well for most of [...]

How much water does Idaho have?

The latest water supply report issued by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which is part of the US Department of Agriculture, is dated June of 2008. That was a long time ago, and the weather can change quickly. In those days, officials were concerned about cool spring temperatures and below-average rainfall.
The Idaho Department of Water [...]

Let’s talk about Idaho’s water resources

This Friday, October 24, is the deadline to qualify for a discount when you register for the 25th annual Water Law and Resource Issues Seminar November 6-7 at the Doubletree-Riverside in Boise. The agenda for the seminar includes the following:
Shoshone-Bannock Counties and the Clean Water Act
The Latest in Water Right Takings Litigation
Life as an Administrative [...]

The Clean Water Act is not to be ignored

The above picture shows an extreme example (not in Idaho) of the harmful collection of water polluted by construction when no drainage system as required by the CWA was provided.
Businesses operating at three construction sites in Nampa are finding out that the Clean Water Act is being enforced in Idaho. Sites affected by $21,800 in fines [...]

When you have a well at home

I have a well in my house in space beneath the old house and my garage, totally enclosed from the outdoors and powered by my own pump. I’ve never used well water for drinking because the people who rented this place for a short time after my parents died got sick and claimed it was [...]

Arsenic in Idaho’s drinking water

The arsenic in Idaho probably comes from volcanic activity through the ages, but when it settles in our drinking water and raises warning flags about increased risk of cancer and other diseases, we pay attention.
Officials for Kuna, Idaho, have shut down one of the city’s main water wells because it was found to have more [...]

Enough water in Idaho? That depends…

Looking good…the water supply picture for Idaho this year.
Plenty of snow in the mountains. Cool enough to keep snow from melting too fast and flooding the valleys.
A few hot days in May could change the picture, but for now it looks good. Check out the complete report by the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) of [...]

Water rights judge Schroeder’s recommendations

You can find the complete speech containing former chief justice Gerald Schroeder’s recommendations for harmony among Idaho’s water users. Unfortunately, there is no summary or list of recommendations, but it’s all there!