Agreement could end court battle over flood control issue

By Sean Ellis

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation

BOISE – Treasure Valley irrigators and the state have reached an agreement that could end a long-running court battle over how flood control releases from Boise River system reservoirs are accounted for.

As a result, the parties have agreed to put an appeal before the Idaho Supreme Court on hold. That case has been stayed until Nov. 30, 2019.

If certain provisions of the agreement are met, the case before the state’s highest court will be dismissed. If the provisions are not met, either side could continue with the appeal.

Both parties confirmed an agreement has been reached but did not reveal its details.

The flood control issue affects Water District 63, which spans from Boise to Parma in southwestern Idaho.  About 350,000 acres in the region are irrigated by water from the Boise River system’s reservoirs

The Idaho Department of Water Resources and a group of Treasure Valley water users have fought over the issue for years.

In seven out of 10 years, water is released from the reservoirs in the winter to prevent spring flooding in the state’s most populous area.

The irrigators, who own the most senior water rights in the valley, say flood control releases should not be counted against their reservoir water storage rights because they happen during a time when canals and irrigation ditches aren’t operating and they can’t use the water.

They say the IDWR’s way of accounting for flood control releases could result in a catastrophic situation where farmers and other irrigators run out of water in the middle of the summer.

IDWR officials argue their flood control accounting system actually protects the storage water rights of all water right holders, senior and junior, and ensures the water is used for maximum benefit.

Judge Eric Wildman, presiding judge of the Snake River Basin Adjudication Court, ruled in favor of the state in 2016. That ruling was appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court and oral arguments were scheduled to begin June 20.

But the recent agreement reached between the two sides puts that appeal on hold. As long as certain conditions of the agreement are met, the case will be dismissed, officials from both sides said.

“The appeal before the Supreme Court has been delayed and if those actions (in the agreement) are successful, the appeal will be dismissed,” said IDWR Director Gary Spackman.

One of the provisions of the agreement is that lawmakers next year pass a proposed bill that updates Idaho Code to make it clear that the filling of any future new water storage projects will not have priority over existing reservoir storage rights.

Some lawmakers had called for a special legislative session this summer to pass that proposed bill but the postponement of the case before the ISC means that the bill can be addressed during the 2019 Idaho legislative session, which begins in January.

That will give lawmakers time to fully review the legislation and gather input from their constituents, Spackman said.

The agreement also hinges on whether Wildman approves of the details, said Roger Batt, executive director of the Treasure Valley Water Users Association, which is representing irrigators on this issue.

He said irrigators “are confident that this settlement agreement will protect both senior and junior water rights.”

Irrigators have spent about $1.5 million to date on the case, Batt said.   

Though the two parties have reached an agreement, the legislature and judiciary both operate independently and will have a say in the issue, Spackman said.

However, he said, “I’m hopeful that the terms of the agreement can be implemented and the appeal (dismissed).”