Idaho’s Aquifer Recharge Efforts AIC Water Summit Brian Patton, PE, Executive Officer, Idaho Water Resource Board January 22, 2018 Background - Water Rights •Water is property of State of Idaho •Water user (individual or organization) holds right to use water from defined source for defined purpose •Prior Appropriation doctrine – “1st in time is 1st in right” •Conjunctive Administration – hydrologically connected surface water and ground water administered together in priority Junior priority wells pumping from same aquifer Hypothetical conjunctive Spring supplying administration example senior water rights Background – Aquifer Recharge Terms •Managed Recharge – intentional placement of water into an aquifer •Incidental Recharge – placement of water into an aquifer as a byproduct of another operation (leaky irrigation canal) •Natural Recharge – precipitation occurring over an aquifer and infiltrating into the aquifer •Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) - A specific water user storing surface water in an aquifer with the expectation of later recovery of the same amount (NOT AN AQUIFER MANAGEMENT TOOL) Mile Post 31 recharge site – Milner Gooding Canal Nov. 8, 2017 Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer ✓Fractured basalt aquifer ✓About 10,000 square miles ✓World-class aquifer Spring discharge to American Falls Spring discharge to Thousand Springs Volume Change of Water Stored Within the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer and Thousand Springs Total Discharge Aquifer Storage Thousand Springs Discharge 1912 – 1952 Change +17,000,000 AF 1952 – 2015 Change -13,000,000 AF Average annual 1952-2015 loss of aquifer storage is about 215,000 AF Aquifer storage and flows from the Thousand Springs are directly correlated Total Thousand Springs Flows Spring Flows in Blackfoot to Minidoka Reach Approximate 500,000 AF/yr annual reduction between 1980 and 2014 Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Background ESPA discharge to Snake River at American ESPA discharge to Falls Snake River at Thousand Springs Thousand Springs Area Delivery Surface Water Calls x 11 Coalition Delivery Call Cumulative Change in Aquiver Volume vs. ESPA Delivery Calls 20 feet) - 18 D.C.* Conj. Mgt. Rules 16 SWC D.C. 14 A&B D.C. 12 2nd Rangen D.C. 10 B. Wood/L. Wood D.C. 8 1st Rangen D.C. D.C.** 6 4 *2005: Billingsley Creek Ranch, Blue Lakes, Clear Springs (x2), John Jones 2 **2012: Jones, Lee, Lyncliff Farms, and Seapac of Idaho ESPA Cumulative Aquifer Storage Change (million Change (million acre Storage Aquifer Cumulative ESPA ‘81 ‘84 ‘87 ‘90 ‘93 ‘96 ‘99 ‘02 ‘05 ‘08 ‘11 ‘14 Years ESPA Stabilization and Swan Falls Agreement State responsibility to ensure minimum flows at Murphy Gage just below Swan Falls Dam of: ✓3,900 cfs (4/1 through 10/31) and ✓5,600 cfs (11/1 through 3/31) However, 180 miles Upstream at Milner Dam •Water planning, policy, and practice provides for full development of Snake River above Milner Dam •At times this reduces Snake River flow at Milner Dam to zero Swan Falls Minimum Flows 3,900 cfs/5,600 cfs Thousand Springs Discharge from ESPA Milner Zero Flow When flow is zero at Milner, flow at Swan Falls Dam is made up almost entirely of spring flows from the ESPA Snake River Near Murphy Gage - Swan Falls Dam - 2015 Near minimum flows Flow Near minimum flows augmentation Flow augmentation Fell below minimum flows for the first time ever in 2015! Combined System Idaho Power Hells Canyon Complex Thousand Springs-fed minimum flows pass through IPCO hydropower system ESPA discharge to Snake River at American Falls ESPA discharge to Snake River at Thousand Springs Swan Falls Dam – Minimum Flow of American Falls-area 3,900 cfs/5,600 cfs springs partly supply river flows that feed Thousand Springs Surface Water Area Delivery Calls Surface Water Coalition canals Coalition Delivery Milner Dam – Milner Call Zero Flow Implications of Aquifer Situation ✓ESPA can no longer meet all the uses that have been assigned to it – delivery calls determine what water uses come off the system ✓ESPA must be managed to sustain spring flows sufficient to meet the Swan Falls minimum flows ✓If economic damage is to be minimized, ESPA must be managed to sustain spring flows sufficient to reduce need for conjunctive water delivery calls ✓Current situation is due partly to “deferred maintenance” of the ESPA ✓Need to “re-build” ESPA Surface Water Coalition Delivery Call • Delivery Call Filed in 01/14/2005 • Final Order 09/05/2008 • Second Amended Methodology Order 06/23/2010 • Third Amended Methodology Order 04/16/2015 • Delivery Call Injury Based on Water Supply for Current Year • Injury: (1) in-season; and (2) “reasonable carryover” • Shorthand – if SWC’s natural flow and reservoir supplies are short in a give year, junior GW pumpers must make up the balance. • Because the Water Supply changes from year to year, so does the injury obligation • Uncertainty is the great frustration of the Junior…and the Senior AFRD2 – 62,361 acres NSCC – 154,067 acres 544,135 TFCC – 183,589 acres acres Minidoka – 70,144 acres A&B – 15,924 acres Burley – 44,715 acres Milner – 13,335 acres Surface Water Coalition What Changed with the Third Amendment? • No finality for the Junior until the “time of need” – “mid-season adjustment” can be up or down • Full obligation from the Area of Common Ground Water Supply • New Prediction Models Tied to Aquifer Levels • New Crop Distribution Data • No “phased curtailment” of injury to “reasonable carryover” • New Baseline Years, based on hotter and drier years • New Methodology provides more certainty to the Seniors • New Methodology determines larger injuries • Shifts risk to the junior water right holders Under the New Methodology the April 2015 Injury Determination was 89,000 acre-feet Approximately 1982 Priority Date Approximately 86,000 acres But for the Stipulation leading to the Settlement, there would have been significant curtailment in 2015! Negotiations • Parties entered into negotiations chaired by Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke • IDWR ran several scenarios applying 3rd Amendment to various historical water years – Mitigation obligations in most years going forward – Very real scenarios where obligation is large (200,000 – 500,000 AF) • Changed goal of negotiations from 1-year deal to permanent settlement IGWA: Member GWDs Jefferson Clark GWD Madison GWD Bonneville Jefferson GWD Carey Valley GWD Bingham GWD Aberdeen American Falls GWD Magic Valley GWD Gages: • HF nr Ashton North Snake GWD • HF nr Rexburg • SR nr Heise • SR nr Shelley • SR nr Blackfoot • SR at Neeley Raft River GWD • SR nr Minidoka -- beginning in 2016 Recharge Goal: Stabilize & Rebuild ESPA ✓HB 547 passed by 2014 Legislature allocates $5 million annually from cigarette tax to Water Resource Board for “statewide aquifer stabilization” ✓ESPA is first priority ✓2016 legislature firmed up funds for long-term and established goals Milepost 31 recharge basin along Milner-Gooding Canal Winter Recharge 2014-2015 •Took recharge from “pilot scale” to “full scale” – proof of concept •Use existing canals to extent possible to deliver recharge water •Water Board adopted incentivized payment schedules for canals – MAKE RECHARGE A PARTNERSHIP! Recharge at MP31 recharge basin/Milner-Gooding Canal – Jan 16, 2015 Winter Recharge 2014-2015 •Total ESPA recharge: 75,234 AF •Amount below Minidoka: 61,068 AF •Amount above American Falls: 14,166 AF •Total spill past Milner Oct - Mar: ~ 300,000 AF Recharge operations in Aberdeen-Springfield Canal & Hilton Spill February 26, 2015 Winter Recharge 2015-2016 •Total ESPA recharge: 66,536 AF •Amount below Minidoka: 66,536 AF •Amount above American Falls: 0 AF •Total spill past Milner Oct - Mar: ~ 111,300 AF Recharge operations in Milner-Gooding Canal November 30, 2015 Total IWRB Managed Recharge Rates During 2016 - 2017 Season Total Volume of Recharge = 317,714 af (October 25, 2016 toJuly 7, 2017 ) 4400 4400 Recharge below Minidoka Dam Oct 25 - May 17 4000 Jun 9 - July 2 4000 Recharge above Minidoka Big Wood Dam Feb 28 - May 17 Recharge Feb 22 - Jensen Grove Maximum Flow 3600 Jun 9 - July 2 past Milner Jun 23 3600 FFIC 4/14 = 21,300 cfs ECC Upper 3200 Valley 3200 FMID GFCC 2800 2800 Big/Little (cfs) BWCC Wood NSCC 2400 2400 AFRD2 Lower SWID Valley 2000 2000 TFCC Recharge Flow Recharge Available Flow 1600 1600 Total Water Available for Recharge Snake Rivers 1200 1200 800 800 400 400 0 0 Preliminary Data Dates of Recharge Building to Increase Recharge Capacity Milner-Gooding Canal – rehabilitating concrete channel near Shoshone so winter flows can be delivered to Shoshone Recharge Site November 11, 2016 Milner-Gooding Canal – Concrete flume rehab completed March 10, 2016 Building to Increase Recharge Capacity Milner-Gooding Canal – Mile 31 Recharge Site Expansion – Nov 29, 2016 – recharge basin in background Milner-Gooding Canal – expanded Mile 31 recharge facilities in use -- April 24, 2017 Building to Increase Recharge Capacity New canal under construction to the Egin Bench Recharge Site November 24, 2015 Completed recharge canal to Egin Bench March 28, 2016 2016 Legislative Actions •Senate Concurrent Resolution 136 – Supports Surface Water Coalition Delivery Call Settlement •Senate Concurrent Resolution 137 – Directs Water Board and IDWR to address declining aquifers state- wide •Senate Concurrent Resolution 138 – Directs Water Board to develop capability to accomplish average of 250,000 AF of managed recharge annually by 2024 •Senate Bill 1402 – firmed up funding for managed recharge Approximate 660,000 AF Increase ESPA Volume of Water and Thousand Springs Discharge 20,000,000 18,000,000