UPDATE: Water Curtailment Order lifted for East Idaho Farmers - Idaho Press
UPDATE: Water Curtailment Order lifted for East Idaho Farmers | Local News | idahopress.com
The Idaho Department of Water Resources has lifted a curtailment order that required 6,400 junior groundwater rights holders who pump off the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer to shut off their water, potentially affecting 500,000 acres of farmland.
Groundwater irrigators and surface water irrigators have completed a deal that saves 330,000 acres of Idaho farmland from being dried up and averts economic catastrophe in the state.
A mitigation agreement for 2024, brokered by Governor Brad Little and Lt. Governor Scott Bedke, has now been signed by all parties and has been submitted to the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR for approval. When the deal is approved, IDWR will lift the curtailment for all nine ground water districts whose patrons irrigate with groundwater from the ESPA.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: hydropower
Hydropower — electricity generated by turbines capturing energy from moving water — was for many years the primary contributor of renewable energy to the U.S. electricity grid. Its growth was rapid into the 1970s, and since then has offered a stable supply of power, while a declining share of all generation. For many years, hydropower was seen as clean energy and an unalloyed good, but a greater understanding of the impact of dams on ecosystems and wildlife has led to the removal of some dams. As of 2019, hydropower trails wind as a renewable source of power generation.