IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Water managers are cutting off irrigation flows to farmers in Idaho’s Wood River basin and wildlife officials are scrambling to move fish to safer waters as a severe drought grips the area.
Raised on a Rupert farm, Lynn Tominaga has devoted his career to helping farmers throughout the Eastern Snake Plain maintain their access to a crucial and uncertain agricultural input — an adequate water supply.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A drought is forcing Oregon to consider major changes this summer to everything from how it stocks trout in lakes and reservoirs across the state to when it will release some species of fish from hatcheries.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall will join other national farm industry leaders June 15-16 at the Port of Lewiston for an informational tour highlighting the importance of the lower four Snake River dams and the entire Columbia-Snake River system.
To commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Teton Dam Disaster, Museum of Rexburg workers have created an “escape room” where visitors can flee the disaster while also helping communities threatened by the flood.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The state Department of Ecology on Thursday issued a drought advisory for most of Washington, including all areas east of the Cascade Range, portions of southwest Washington and the Washington coast.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Some Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest are criticizing the suggestion they have competing opinions on how best to save endangered salmon runs, saying tribes are united in pursuing the removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Snake River in order to preser…
Several Portneuf River watershed irrigators are reportedly in negotiations to develop a mitigation plan that would allow them to continue diverting water in the face of a delivery call by the Surface Water Coalition.
BOISE — The Idaho Water Resource Board and Bureau of Reclamation discussed a proposal on May 21 to delay federal environmental approval for the proposed 6-foot raise of Anderson Ranch Dam to allow for completion of additional analysis needed to address critical questions about project construction.
The Idaho Water Resource Board is permanently renting 19 U.S. Forest Service water rights historically used for irrigating pasture in the Sawtooth Valley to augment Salmon River watershed flows and benefit threatened and endangered fish.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The water crisis along the California-Oregon border went from dire to catastrophic this week as federal regulators shut off irrigation water to farmers from a critical reservoir and said they would not send extra water to dying salmon downstream or to a half-dozen wildl…
McCammon rancher Jim Guthrie’s cattle are normally grazing private pasture by mid-April, but he’s had to feed them hay for an extra month due to cool, dry and windy weather stymieing grass growth.
Seven irrigation districts and canal companies representing the Snake River Surface Water Coalition sent a letter on April 23 to the director of the Idaho Department of Water Resources, requesting that he instruct watermasters in the Portneuf River Basin to regulate their surface water right…
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Some Republican members of Congress from the Northwest are accusing a GOP Idaho lawmaker of conducting secret negotiations with the Democratic governor of Oregon over a controversial proposal to breach four dams on the Snake River to save endangered salmon runs.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Ongoing drought in Idaho will drastically shorten this year’s irrigation season for some farmers, officials said.
Climate change and water scarcity are front and center in the western U.S. The region’s climate is warming, a severe multi-year drought is underway and groundwater supplies are being overpumped in many locations.
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — Despite a healthy amount of snowfall in the North Cascades over the winter and some recent rain, the Pacific Northwest slid last week into the “abnormally dry” drought category.
The absence of precipitation in the Lost and Wood river basins this winter has caused officials with the Natural Resources Conservation District to predict water shortages for irrigators this summer.
Entities planning a major flood-control and irrigation-efficiency project are pledging to work with residents concerned about depletion of beloved natural features in the Logan area.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, the Bureau of Reclamation released the Klamath Project 2021 Temporary Operations Plan, which was developed in response to consecutive years of drought conditions in the Klamath Basin.
CARSON CITY, Nev. — The man-made lakes that store water supplying millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico are projected to shrink to historic lows in the coming months, dropping to levels that could trigger the federal government’s first-ever official shortage declaration and prompt c…
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — One of the worst droughts in memory in a massive agricultural region straddling the California-Oregon border could mean steep cuts to irrigation water for hundreds of farmers this summer to sustain endangered fish species critical to local tribes.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — About a quarter of Idaho is experiencing some degree of drought, with one pocket in the south-central part of the state in extreme drought.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Rainstorms grew more erratic and droughts much longer across most of the U.S. West over the past half-century as climate change warmed the planet, according to a sweeping government study released Tuesday that concludes the situation is worsening.
FERNLEY, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada town founded a century ago by pioneers lured to the West by the promise of free land and cheap water in the desert is trying to block the U.S. government from renovating a 115-year-old earthen irrigation canal with a plan that would eliminate leaking water that …
The big flood event of 2017, when the Boise River reservoirs filled quickly with mountain snowmelt in that epic winter termed “Snowmageddon,” forced federal water authorities to release more than 7,000 cubic feet per second of water flow down the Boise River for 101 days from April to late J…
AP Science Writer
As the Boise River Greenbelt project started to get more momentum in the 1970s — the project was originally conceived in 1962 by the Boise City Council — more people were paying attention to Flood District 10 maintenance activities on the river, officials said.
BOISE — The Idaho Water Resource Board voted on Friday to recommend priorities for allocating as much as $70 million in funding appropriated by the Idaho Legislature and approved by Gov. Brad Little for major water infrastructure projects statewide.
DESHLER, Nebraska — Reinke Manufacturing, a global leader in irrigation systems and technology, has recognized Irrigation Systems in Blackfoot with a Gold Pride award in recognition of their success last year.
TWIN FALLS — At this time of year, the common sights and smells of smoke rising from farm ground signal the coming of the irrigation season. But the annual process of burning laterals and ditches is not for show.
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a four-part series on Flood Control District No. 10 on the Boise River.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Wildlife agencies in Oregon, Washington and Idaho are urging pet stores to stop selling a popular aquarium product after discovering invasive zebra mussels inside them.
HAGERMAN, Idaho (AP) — Two types of aquatic plants have been growing at the bottom of Blue Heart Springs in Idaho, threatening the tourist destination’s blue waters by obscuring the sand below and turning the water green, environmental officials said.
Idaho ranks No. 2 in the nation when it comes to total water withdrawn – diverted from rivers or pumped from the ground – for irrigation.
Many different government agencies and entities manage the Boise River. Here’s a glimpse at who does what:
Editor’s note: This is the first part of a four-part series on southwest Idaho’s Flood Control District No. 10.
KLAMATH FALLS, Oregon — As the Klamath Basin’s water crisis continues to fester without a long-term solution, irrigators tend to harken back to the days before the 2001 water shutoff, when irrigation seasons were more or less normal and Basin farming wasn’t punctuated with a question mark.
KLAMATH FALLS, Oregon — While the Klamath Basin’s snowpack is at 85% of what it would be normally this time of year, there’s already more water stored in the mountains than last year. So why are Basin hydrologists projecting another exceptionally dry summer for Upper Klamath Lake? The answer…
Washington, D.C. – A few weeks ago, I released a comprehensive concept to resolve the salmon, energy and dam issues that have created tension in the Northwest for decades. It is meant to provide security for all stakeholders, end lawsuits and give Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead a chance f…
A quarter of the Legislature, including more than half the members from north central Idaho, co-sponsored a resolution opposing removal of the Snake-Columbia River dams.
The Idaho Water Resource Board will study three options for creating a large-scale managed aquifer recharge site in the Upper Snake River Valley.
Washington, D.C. – “Last week, I released for discussion a concept that could end the Northwest salmon wars. It would lock in a more certain future for agriculture, energy, transportation and communities and also give Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead their best chance for survival.
Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s largest farm organization, is strongly opposed to a proposal that would result in the removal of four lower Snake River dams that provide amazing benefits to Idaho and the entire Pacific Northwest region.
TWIN FALLS — Idaho is having a drier-than-normal winter, which could cause significant drought conditions in the Magic Valley this summer.
Rep. Mike Simpson has shown Idaho and the Northwest what bold leadership looks like with his proposal to rebuild our northwest infrastructure and save Idaho’s salmon and steelhead from extinction.
A St. Anthony farmer who has held several top leadership positions within the potato industry has been elected chairman of the Idaho Water Resource Board.
BOISE — The Idaho Water Resource Board reviewed the critical actions needed to move forward with a 6-foot raise of Anderson Ranch Dam in its January meeting, and in one of the necessary steps, it hired a financial consultant to help with financing the non-federal portion of the $83 million p…
As we head into the Christmas holiday season and the watch 2020 come to a close, I must admit that I’m feeling a bit of sadness – and a little bit of joy – contemplating the departure of two very valuable long-time members of the Idaho Water Resource Board – Vince Alberdi of Kimberly and Joh…
A new study shows that it is possible to increase storage and lake levels in Bear Lake.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers reversed course on an Obama-era proposal to charge for water drawn from reservoirs the Corps manages, North Dakota’s attorney general said Friday.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers reversed course on an Obama-era proposal to charge for water drawn from reservoirs the Corps manages, North Dakota’s attorney general said Friday.
LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — A controversial new study challenges long-standing science that pins salmon declines in the Snake River Basin on dams.
BOISE — The Idaho Water Resource Board has agreed not to divert 200 cubic feet per second of streamflow under its recharge water rights from Dec. 1 through Feb. 15, allowing that amount of water to remain the Snake River for other uses, including hydropower production, below Milner Dam in th…
SODA SPRINGS — The State of Idaho filed a petition on Nov. 20 requesting the 5th District Court to commence the Bear River Basin Adjudication, a legal process in which a court reviews and confirms all existing water rights in the Bear River Basin, the Malad River Valley and the Curlew Valley.
