BOISE, Idaho — Much of Idaho’s water comes from the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer – an underground storehouse of water in southern and eastern Idaho roughly the size of Lake Erie.
But the amount of water in that aquifer has been on the decline since the 1950s. The state has been working to recharge the aquifer since 2014, according to Wesley Hipke, Idaho Department of Water Resources water recharge manager.
“It’s a really simple concept,” Hipke said. “When there’s excess water on the river, let’s pull it off, put it in the aquifer to build it back up.”
However, drought conditions are impacting those efforts. Hipke said while the amount of water in the aquifer increased from 2016 to 2020, supply has taken a hit the last two years.
“If we don’t get a lot of snowpack, what’s predictable is we’ll only be able to do 150,000-acre feet,” Hipke said.
Their goal is to recharge the aquifer 250,000-acre feet every year.
“To give you an idea … if you fill a football field with one foot of water, that’s one acre foot," Hipke said. "So, that’s a lot of water.”
Essentially, Hipke said in a good water year, they can store more water to supplement a bad water year.
This aquifer is very important to Idaho and a lot of people rely on it, Idaho State University geology professor, Paul Link said.
“Right now, the spring flow is lower than it would need to be for some of the fish farmers and the people who have old water right,” Link said.
The amount of water in the aquifer also impacts the state’s economy. Hipke said between a third to a quarter of Idaho’s economy comes from the region.
“The aquifer has a direct connection to the [Snake] river,” Hipke said, “So, if the aquifer goes down, the amount of water coming back to the river goes down.”
Hipke also said the amount of water flowing impacts all sorts of industries.
“Around 75% of all the trout that’s used in the restaurants and whatnot come from this area,” Hipke said. “Combine that with the other aspects of there’s a lot of hydro plants along the river. So, when the flow goes down, there’s less power produced.”
But with efforts to recharge the aquifer, Hipke said he is hopeful for the future.
“We have water,” Hipke said. “It’s just about using it the most effectively that we can."
Water conservation plays a big role – not just for farmers that use the aquifer for irrigation purposes. Link said everyone should watch their water usage and be aware that we do not have an endless supply.
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