Idaho has committed an additional $10 million for projects in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer.

The aquifer underneath much of the state’s southeastern and south-central regions has been declining for decades for reasons including growth and development, drought, and irrigation systems that return less water.

“My top priority has always been and will continue to be maintaining a strong ag economy in eastern Idaho while preserving water for future generations,” Gov. Brad Little said in a news release circulated after an announcement event in Rigby.

The added funds “will get the water levels in the aquifer headed in the right direction” and are “part of an overall strategy to maintain our water destiny here in Idaho,” Little said. “Ultimately farmers, not government mandates, will drive the solutions.”

Groundwater users with junior rights must mitigate for volumes owed to a coalition of senior surface water users as part of a water-rights call. Impacts vary each year. Following recent conflicts, the parties are negotiating new mitigation plans as part of an executive order the governor signed in late June.

“I am very excited about the momentum that farmers are building to strike a deal,” Little said. Farmers talking and deciding their future “is always better than a government solution.”

Eastern Idaho groundwater users “will greatly benefit from more resources for additional projects,” Fremont County farmer Jeff Raybould, chairman of the Idaho Water Resource Board, said in the release. He is “confident this funding will make a positive impact on the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer.”

The additional funds likely will be used on projects that improve available water supply for senior right holders and “give the groundwater districts flexibility in ways to mitigate,” Raybould said in an interview.

“I think we can come up with ways to better manage the water supply,” he said. Generally, this means solutions that provide senior water right holders volumes to which they are entitled and “allow the juniors to stay in business.”

The board will decide projects on which the additional $10 million will be spent, Raybould said. Applicants selected likely will share some of the cost. Possibilities include delivering groundwater in new ways to surface water users, or to the aquifer so Snake River downstream reach gains improve.

A cost sharing requirement made the additional $10 million available, he said. In the north-central region, a board-funded pipeline project, out of Dworshak Reservoir to enhance fish hatchery production, drew more cost-share participation than expected.

This funding is in addition to $30 million Little and the legislature committed to recharging the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer in recent years.

“I’m encouraged by the progress we’re making toward real, lasting solutions,” Blackfoot-area farmer Adam Young said in the release. “We’ve been able to come together and identify projects that will secure senior water right holders’ supply, preserve the aquifer and maintain Idaho’s strong ag economy.” The additional funding “will be tremendously helpful as we build out and implement the infrastructure to achieve those objectives.”

“There are a number of significant projects we’ve identified as part of these mitigation negotiations,” Young told Capital Press. They include projects “aimed at securing consistent, reliable supplies for surface water irrigators, and at aggressively expanding aquifer recharge in the upper valley.”