10/21/09

Every spring, the question on every irrigator's mind is, will there be enough water this year? Water managers are optimistic but cautious about the current outlook.

Right now, at the end of the irrigation season, the reservoir system in south eastern Idaho is just over half full at 56 percent. That's the most water we've seen stored up going into winter in more than a decade.

General Manager of the Twin Falls Canals Company Brian Olmstead said, “If it's a wet winter, then they'll have to make room in the reservoirs by some time later into the winter. So we could see Shoshone Falls running with flow like it did this year, possibly 20 thousand feet going over the falls.”

Olmstead says but if this winter is fairly dry, that could be another story entirely. He says in that case, if we have a really hot dry summer next year, we might possibly run out of water. But he says full reservoirs and a wet winter would give southern Idaho a good water supply for next year.

According to Olmstead, “For Twin Falls canal, we have the early water rights on the natural flow coming down the river, and then we have the storage water rights. And it takes both of them to give us a good supply.”

The Twin Falls Canal Company will shut off flows at Milner Dam this Friday, October 23rd. Olmstead says under the Comprehensive Aquifer Management Plan or 'CAMP' the additional water could benefit the aquifer.

There will be water available this fall for recharge into the Milner-Gooding Canal and probably the North Side Canal, and some of the eastern Idaho canals. And then again in the spring, there should be water available for recharge,” he said.