Schroeder sides with trout farms
By Matt Christensen, Times-News writer
Saturday, January 12, 2008 3:00 PM CST
BOISE, Idaho - Widespread Magic Valley well closures are possible again following a recommendation issued late Friday afternoon by former Chief Justice of Idaho Gerald Schroeder.
Schroeder, picked to resolve a dispute between ground-water and surface-water users, has suggested the state close some ground-water wells to free up water for two Magic Valley trout farms.
The ruling is a significant victory for the fish farmers, who say they’ve lost millions of dollars in recent years because they could not get their full share of spring water under Idaho’s first-come, first-served water law. It’s a major blow to ground-water pumpers, who’ve argued that well closures could mean economic disaster in southern Idaho if the state dries up thousands of acres.
Ground-water pumpers annually draw about a quarter of the water that moves through the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, an underground network of waterways that stretches from Ashton to King Hill.
Clear Springs Foods and Blue Lakes Trout Farm, the fish farms involved in the dispute, rely on the water to produce the majority of commercial trout in Magic Valley, a leader in the nation’s aquaculture industry.
In the two-week hearing, lawyers for the ground-water pumpers made various arguments against curtailment. Schroeder rejected most of them.
“It is inescapable … that spring flows have declined over time and that a portion of that decline is attributable to ground-water pumping,” Schroeder wrote in a 30-page opinion released late Friday.
However, Schroeder indicated he was aware the curtailment — likely to be the largest series of well closures in state history — will have dramatic economic impact.
” … There is harm to groundwater users who are curtailed,” Schroeder wrote, “but it is reasonable considering priorities and the effects of their pumping.”
The Idaho Ground Water Appropriators, representing ground-water pumpers, has estimated farmers could lose between $1,000 and $1,200 an acre. The fallout is likely to cost farmers nearly $20 million and have wide, economic ripple effects.
The ruling could also affect cities such as Shoshone and Wendell, which rely on ground water for town services.
To help soften the blow, Schroeder recommends the state phase in curtailment over the next five years.
Schroeder’s suggestions are not legally binding; they’re recommendations to state water director Dave Tuthill, who has final say. But water directors have traditionally followed the guidelines of hearing officers, and many of Schroeder’s suggestions mirror opinions Tuthill expressed last spring when he first announced plans to close wells.
Tuthill is expected to make his decision early this year. Ground-water users will likely appeal, and most experts close to the issue expect the case is headed to the Supreme Court.
It is unclear if the state could proceed with curtailment this spring if the matter is tied up in court, which could complicate farmers’ planting plans, loans and equipment purchases.
Both sides of the issue were quiet Friday evening following the ruling. Attorneys and spokesmen for each side did not answer calls to offices, homes and cell phones.
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