1. Wildman bio

The Idaho Supreme Court has selected District Judge Eric Wildman to adjudicate water rights in the Kootenai River Basin.

The legislature this year authorized the adjudication to move forward, examining water rights in the state’s northern tip. The state in coming months is expected to petition the water court to begin the adjudication, according to a news release from the state judicial branch. Wildman presides over the state’s longtime water court based in Twin Falls.

Idaho Department of Water Resources staff are working with the deputy attorneys general on petition language, said Shelley Keen, IDWR deputy director.

A petition “is currently in the drafting stage,” he said. “I would anticipate a petition to be filed sometime before the end of 2024.” A filing timetable has not been set, but “that’s what we’re working toward.”

After a petition is filed, the court starts its own process that usually includes holding a hearing.

Based on recent experience, if the department submits a petition before year’s end, “it might be possible for the court to issue a commencement order perhaps sometime in the first half of 2025,” Keen said.

Idaho on Oct. 23, 2020, petitioned the court to commence the Clark Fork Pend Oreille River Basins Adjudications, also in the north. The court issued a commencement order June 15, 2021. A Nov. 20, 2020, petition to start the Bear River Basin Adjudication, which includes the state’s southeast corner, was followed by a commencement order June 15, 2021.

A general stream adjudication is a lawsuit to inventory the water rights of an entire stream system by deciding their nature, extent and priority, according to the state judicial branch. The process confirms details of rights and provides information that helps manage water use according to state law, including in situations where water rights conflict or additional rights are created.

Other adjudications in the state are Palouse River Basin, the Northern Idaho Adjudications, and Snake River Basin — completed except for some stock water and domestic claims.

Population growth is among reasons the Kootenai adjudication is needed, state water officials said when House Bill 687, which authorizes the IDWR director to petition the district court, was introduced. The adjudication, supported by the basin’s water users, will involve an estimated 3,000 claims, according to the bill’s purpose statement.

Cost is estimated at $3.25 million over five years, plus funding for negotiating federal claims. Claim filing fees are expected to fund 5-10% of the adjudication’s cost.

How long the Kootenai adjudication takes will depend on how many claims are filed, Keen said.