BOISE — Idaho Gov. Brad Little‘s first water summit — which nearly filled the biggest hearing room in the Capitol Aug. 7 — likely will prompt regional summits in the future.

The regional summits could start as soon as this fall, Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke, who moderated a panel discussion on current supply around the state, said in an interview.

Water users and others primarily know and care about their own areas and can pinpoint needs, he said. Regional summits thus have good potential to generate solutions that are driven locally or regionally.

As for the statewide summit being held in a good water-supply year, Bedke said the timing is good “because we have time to fix things. … There is still room to maneuver.”

In contrast, crisis management is bad management, he said.

Govs. Phil Batt, Dirk Kempthorne and most recently Butch Otter held water summits.

“They’re necessary as Idaho grows and irrigation technology and climates change,” Little said in opening his summit.

The governor’s office, legislature and Idaho Water Resource Board in the past two years have spent unprecedented amounts on improving water infrastructure. American Rescue Plan Act and state budget surplus funds have been used.

Some aquifers are stable, some are in decline, and some — Oakley in the south-central region, for example — declined previously but have risen in recent years, said Dennis Owsley, technical hydrologist with the state Department of Water Resources. Some, such as Moscow and Mountain Home, don’t have much surface water to help replenish them.

In the south and east, “there is a lot going on” including state-led groundwater management, measurement and monitoring in spots, he said.

The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, which lies beneath much of the state’s southern and eastern regions, has been in decline for decades because of population and business growth, and irrigation systems that return less water to it.

Reach gains in the Blackfoot-to-Milner stretch of the Snake River have been declining in recent years, an issue for the Twin Falls Canal Co. largely because about 80% of its water is from streamflow rather than reservoir storage, said general manager Jay Barlogi. Groundwater flow impacts a reach gain, which is the gain or loss of water between a river reach’s beginning and end.

“The spring flow is just not there,” he said.

More long-season crops such as alfalfa, corn and potatoes are grown in the irrigation company’s service area, another challenge, Barlogi said.

Annual recharge, led by the state Water Resource Board, has reduced Eastern Snake aquifer losses. The volume varies based on water supply. The board is working to develop more recharge sites, particularly in the Upper Snake River.

Average flows in natural streams did not change much in 100 years at 26 gauges analyzed, said Chris Mebane, with the U.S. Geological Survey in Boise.

The idea that runoff is earlier is “not a strong story,” Mebane said. For example, runoff did not come early last year and this year, both of which had cool springs.