Officials tour Bear River Basin, explore ways to increase water supply

The pursuing is simply a news merchandise from nan Idaho Dept. of Water Resources.

SODA SPRINGS – The Idaho Water Resource Board toured nan Bear River Basin and Bear Lake past week and discussed ways to summation h2o proviso successful nan region. One imaginable action is to summation h2o retention successful Bear Lake and different is to research unreality seeding to augment nan high-elevation snowpack, officials said.

The Board held its regular bimonthly gathering successful Soda Springs connected Thursday and Friday to talk those topics and different h2o guidance activities that impact neighboring states, aggregate h2o personification groups and partner agencies successful nan Bear River Basin.

The Bear River yields astir 800,000 acre-feet of h2o per year, connected average, to nan Great Salt Lake, while Bear Lake stores astir 1.4 cardinal acre-feet astatine afloat pool, said Matt Anders, Bureau Chief of Technical Services for nan Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR).

The Bear River crosses authorities lines 5 times successful its 350-mile course, Anders noted. From nan headwaters successful nan Uinta Mountains successful Utah, nan Bear River flows done a area of Southwest Wyoming, past makes a large U-shaped people done nan area of Southeast Idaho, earlier it flows backmost into Utah and drains into nan Great Salt Lake. A three-state compact defines really h2o is allocated to nan 3 states.

Courtesy IDWR

The Bear River supports irrigation, hydropower, autochthonal food and recreation. Bear Lake is celebrated pinch boaters and formation goers from Utah, pinch nan metropolis of Logan (population 55,000), 35 miles away. It’s besides a celebrated getaway for Idaho residents successful this agrarian area of nan state. The Bear River is nan largest tributary of nan Great Salt Lake, which has been reeling from debased reservoir levels successful caller years, Utah officials said.

The Board is exploring nan anticipation of adding retention to Bear Lake to supply much h2o for irrigation and different uses. The Board revenge for a h2o correct successful Bear Lake for that purpose, but nan transmission capacity of nan Bear River would request to beryllium accrued from 1,500 cubic feet per 2nd (cfs) to 2,600 cfs to make that possible, Anders said. Flood easements would request to beryllium negotiated pinch landowners on nan stream successful nan Gentile Valley for that to occur. Efforts to get nan basal easements are ongoing.

The Board is besides exploring whether unreality seeding successful nan Bear River Basin could supply a use to Idaho h2o users. A Board-funded feasibility and creation study was completed by nan National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) successful 2023 to measure whether unreality seeding could summation h2o proviso successful nan basin. The study recovered that location are opportunities to unreality seed pinch some crushed generators and aircraft. There besides is imaginable to stock infrastructure for unreality seeding successful nan Upper Snake region pinch nan State of Utah, said Kala Golden, unreality seeding programme head for IDWR.

The improvement of broad crushed and craft operations has been shown to beryllium nan astir effective measurement to heighten h2o proviso pinch unreality seeding, Golden said. However, location is simply a request to cod existent operational information and past measure whether unreality seeding will support semipermanent h2o proviso enhancement goals.

“There are a number of studies retired location that bespeak a well-managed and scientifically based unreality seeding task tin summation wintertime precipitation connected mean astir 10 percent,” Golden said. “NCAR has recovered location to beryllium bully opportunities for seeding successful nan basin, truthful I deliberation it’s reasonable to presume we could spot akin output from what NCAR has proposed.”

The State of Utah is besides actively moving to turn operations successful nan basin by adding 10 distant crushed generators successful Idaho to use flows into nan Great Salt Lake, officials said.

“This is simply a task that’s adjacent and beloved to my heart,” said Marc Gibbs, an Idaho Water Resource Resource Board personnel who farms successful nan Grace area successful nan Bear River Basin. “I deliberation this is an opportunity that we request to pursue.”

Boating activity was dense connected Bear Lake Thursday afternoon. | Courtesy IDWR

IDWR unit besides provided an update connected nan Bear River Basin Adjudication (BRBA), which commenced July 2021. The BRBA includes some aboveground and groundwater authorities successful nan portions of Bannock, Bear Lake, Caribou, Cassia, Franklin, Oneida, and Power Counties wrong nan Bear River Basin. This includes IDWR Administrative Basins 11, 13, 15, and 17. The intent of nan h2o authorities adjudication is to find nan nature, grade and privilege of aboveground and crushed h2o authorities to let for effective guidance of nan assets successful IDWR’s Basins 11 and 13.

There are an estimated 3,745 progressive h2o authorities successful nan area; astir 2,865 claims person been revenge done nan adjudication truthful far. Claims evaluations successful Basins 11 and 13 are expected to beryllium complete successful 2031. Adjudication activities for IDWR Administrative Basins 15 and 17 are scheduled for 2031 – 2034.

In different action, nan Board:

• Approved nan creation of a caller Groundwater-to-Surface Water Conversion Grant Program pinch a fund of $20 million. The first information of applications will beryllium owed connected October 2024. More accusation will beryllium forthcoming connected that caller assistance program.
• Approved 10 flood guidance grants statewide astatine a full costs of $702,303.50. The grants were awarded to nan Portneuf Soil and Water Conservation District, Clearwater SWCD (two projects), Madison County, City of Boise, City of Nampa, Flood Control District #17 successful Rathdrum, Flood Control District #10 successful Garden City (2 projects), and Adams SWCD.