East Idaho News
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Amid irrigation lawsuit, Idaho's house speaker pledges best efforts in 'optimizing water resources'
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September 15, 2022
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39:12Now Playing#eastidahonews #watersupply #eastidahoelects
IDAHO FALLS – Water is a precious commodity in the Gem State, particularly during a drought, and Scott Bedke, Idaho's speaker of the house and nominee for Lt. Governor, is committed to taking care of the water supply for Idaho’s farmers.
Bedke, a Republican from Oakley, is one of three candidates who will appear on the ballot in November. His opponents are Democrat Terri Pickens Manweiler from Boise and Constitutionalist Pro-Life from Letha.
During a visit to eastern Idaho this week, Bedke stopped by the EastIdahoNews.com studio to discuss multiple hot-button issues ahead of the upcoming election. Among them is a lawsuit about water resources between canal irrigators in the Magic Valley and groundwater irrigators on this side of the state.
An agreement between the parties gives Magic Valley senior water rights. To prevent the water supply from being cut off in eastern Idaho, groundwater irrigators agreed in 2015 that they’d take measures to conserve water and recharge the aquifer at the end of the growing season.
“(Both parties) knew that we were collectively taking more water out of the ground than was coming back in naturally and that our water budget was out of balance,” Bedke says of the agreement. “It set us on a course to stop the drop in the aquifer and begin to raise the levels.”
The next few years were good water years and everything worked out great. When the drought came along in 2021, it left little water available for recharge. Rain showers in May and June provided some temporary relief, but it hasn’t been enough to strengthen the levels in the aquifer.
Farmers in the Magic Valley are now saying that eastern Idaho did not keep its end of the bargain and both sides are back at the negotiating table.
Bedke, a rancher from Oakley who is involved in mediating this discussion, has a vested interest in it. He says the underlying agreement is adaptive and is hoping for a mutually agreeable solution that protects the water supply.
WATCH OUR CONVERSATION IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.
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