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'We need some heroes!' Frank VanderSloot speaks at East Idaho Water Town Hall meeting
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July 18, 2024
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27:52Now Playing#eastidahonews #water #farmers
IDAHO FALLS – We need some heroes.
That was Frank VanderSloot’s message to a packed crowd during a town hall Wednesday night.
Melaleuca’s Executive Chairman was the introductory speaker at a town hall meeting in the company’s event center about Idaho’s ongoing water dispute. It was an informational meeting designed to provide background and context for the discussion, as well as give people a chance to ask questions and address concerns.
VanderSloot has publicly come out in support of local farmers who faced water curtailment earlier this year over claims they were noncompliant with a state-approved mitigation plan to recharge the Snake River Aquifer.
The May 29 water curtailment order from the Idaho Department of Water Resources would have removed water for about 330,000 acres in eastern Idaho, and impacted groundwater users in Bingham, Bonneville, Jefferson and Clark Counties.
Under Idaho law, surface water users in Magic Valley have senior water rights over groundwater users in eastern Idaho. Groundwater users are required to have a plan for recharging the aquifer during times of shortages.
Earlier this year, the IDWR projected a shortage of 74,100 acre-feet of water for the Twin Falls Canal Company.
The parties came up with a temporary plan last month and were able to avoid a curtailment. Under the temporary plan, groundwater districts will conserve 240,000 acre-feet of water and deliver 50,000 acre-feet of storage water to the Surface Water Coalition to cover the shortage, as stated in the 2015 mitigation plan. The parties also agreed to recognize groundwater districts’ prior water conservation efforts, which the SWC disputed in the past.
Several changes to the 2015 agreement have resulted in litigation in recent years, which VanderSloot heavily focused on during Wednesday night’s forum.
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At the time the agreement was signed, VanderSloot said very few people were aware of it, which is concerning to him.
“Our farmers were told that if they signed this, they would be given safe harbor, that they would not have to close down their farms in the future. The courts haven’t supported that,” VanderSloot said.
Then in 2021, VanderSloot explained the IDWR decided it would no longer recognize groundwater users prior water conservation efforts, leading to years of litigation. The Legislature never addressed the issue so the Supreme Court upheld the department’s decision.
In 2023, the department changed its formula for how it calculates water shortages.
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