While chatting with a grower recently, he shared a saying he once heard: “You can mess with a guy’s wife, but you can’t mess with his water.”
Depending on your sense of humor, that saying might come across as a bit crude, but I use it because it paints a picture of the realities of Western water disputes.
My husband has even shared with me stories – whether true or not – about his great-grandfather in Morgan County, Utah, who supposedly chopped off a man's fingers with a shovel for trying to steal his water. Disagreements around water go way back and are what Western cinema is made of.
I’m sure you all have your own stories – and many of you are living through one right now. This was evident at the packed East Idaho Water Town Hall at the Melaleuca Event Center on July 17, where people gathered to ask questions about the water curtailment situation that unfolded this spring. And again, on July 30, when farmers across eastern Idaho lined up more than 70 tractors on Idaho Falls’ Lindsay Boulevard to protest Gov. Brad Little’s visit with the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce.
Facing water curtailment was a stressful experience for many farm families. But if there’s one silver lining, it’s the conversations that are happening as a result. I don’t think these are just casual chats; they’re serious discussions happening within water districts and among individual water users. Growers want solutions – now.
As stated in Little's executive order issued on June 26, there are two critical deadlines: By Sept. 1, the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) Groundwater Management Plan Advisory Council must submit a new groundwater management plan to the Idaho Department of Water Resources, and by Oct. 1, surface and groundwater users must meet to establish an improved mitigation plan. This means that without a new deal, it is likely groundwater users could find themselves in the same predicament next year.
In an opinion piece released on Aug. 14, Little touched on the declining levels of the ESPA, saying, “… I will not mandate a government solution. Why? Because the only solution that is acceptable to me is one that is crafted by farmers. If we don’t do this together, then the EPA or the courts (or worse, Congress!) will determine our water destiny.”
Little continued, “Idaho farmers, not the feds, must come up with the solution. And that is exactly what is happening. Just last week, I sat down with water users from all over the Eastern Snake Plain and watched what happens when farmers collaborate. Their ingenuity far outpaces any government idea.”
I believe Little is right: Growers' ingenuity far outpaces any government idea. The sooner water users come together and listen to each other, the sooner real change will occur in how water is managed in Idaho. Although it may seem like it at times, this isn’t a battle between eastern Idaho water users and Magic Valley water users or "us versus the state." This is not a battle between groups or people; it is and should be a combined effort as Idahoans to improve water management in the state.
Be sure to check out my article to read more about these ongoing discussions.
