A bill in the Idaho Legislature addresses the state’s application for the right to additional water stored in the Anderson Ranch Reservoir after it is expanded.

The House Resources & Conservation Committee Feb. 17 voted to send House Bill 584 to the full House with a do-pass recommendation.

The Legislature last year and in 2020 appropriated money to raise Anderson Ranch Dam, northeast of Mountain Home, and is considering adding funding this year. The Idaho Water Resource Board filed a water right application with the Department of Water Resources for the additional volume.

The department director evaluates every water right application by certain criteria set in state law.

HB 584 confirms that certain elements of that criteria are met — but continues to require the director to consider other criteria, including the impact on existing water rights.

The bill “declares that the application is made in good faith and not for delay or speculative purposes,” its purpose statement reads.

The statement said the legislation addresses issues that have arisen concerning how the director evaluates water right applications for large storage projects. It would allow the board to focus on project-related issues other than establishing criteria in the rights process.

The Idaho Water Users Association proposed HB 584. Committee members asked if it changes or adds evaluation criteria, and if the department director supports it.

Paul Arrington, association executive director and general counsel, said it states certain criteria are met in the application. It does not change criteria used for evaluating this or other rights applications.

He said an association committee developed the current proposal and earlier drafts with input from state water managers, communities and various water organizations.

The reservoir can hold 413,000 acre-feet of water. Plans call for raising the 456-foot dam by 6 feet, which would add 29,000 acre-feet of capacity.

The Water Resource Board and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in November entered a contract ahead of a mid-December deadline under the federal Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act. The contract allowed for design work to start and included cost-share arrangements for construction.

Reclamation is working on the design. A final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision is expected in 2024 and construction could start in 2025, Reclamation said.

Preliminary estimates pegged the overall cost at $83.3 million.