Boise, Idaho – Governor Brad Little, Lt. Governor Scott Bedke, and farmers across Idaho are celebrating the final completion of a new water agreement that protects Idaho agriculture, conserves water for future generations, and safeguards state sovereignty over our most precious resource.
“It was a tough year of negotiations, but I never doubted our farmers could get this done! Idahoans have always solved our own problems, and the new mitigation plan charts a better path for all water users in the years ahead while ensuring Idahoans maintain control of our water destiny, not other states, the feds, or the courts. I am very proud of everyone involved for coming together and getting a new plan across the finish line. I am especially grateful to Lt. Governor Scott Bedke. He took on one of Idaho’s most significant policy issues and helped build the consensus needed to arrive at this milestone. Scott Bedke has demonstrated true leadership once again,” Governor Little said.
“We always knew where we wanted to end up – to maintain our strong agricultural economy and ensure water is available for future generations. This updated mitigation plan puts the long-term health of our state first by addressing the real water needs of today and tomorrow. This past year, we had some honest, candid conversations and faced many difficult realities. It was once everyone reconciled the fact that we are all stuck with each other that the real magic started happening. I am pleased our farmers put aside their differences to work toward a common goal, and I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the process,” Lt. Governor Bedke said.
“Water users across Idaho will greatly benefit from the new mitigation agreement along with all the resources the state and water users themselves have put forward for additional projects to conserve our water. I applaud Governor Little and Lt. Governor Scott Bedke for their continued support and leadership navigating these difficult issues. As chairman of the Idaho Water Board, I am confident we are making a positive impact on the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer,” Fremont County farmer and Idaho Water Resource Board Chairman Jeff Raybould said.
“Water is our most precious resource and highest-valued commodity here in Idaho, and in southern and eastern Idaho, that resource comes from the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. How we manage this finite resource is of the utmost importance to both today’s farmers and tomorrow’s generations. After many tough conversations these past few months with our groundwater neighbors about our water situation, our surface water members are pleased to have found a collective, long-term path forward for all water users. The updated stipulated mitigation plan includes provisions that will protect the health and supply of the ESPA, avoid future injury to our constitutional senior water rights, and keep Idaho’s agricultural industry thriving. The Surface Water Coalition is thankful for all involved parties for taking the time to come together and work to address our water crisis head on,” said Alan Hansten, Chair of the Surface Water Coalition.
“Our districts are pleased to usher in a new agreement that is respectful to the needs of all farmers. We have always said that a new agreement needs to do two things: protect our shared Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer and not dry up eastern Idaho farmland to do it. This agreement accomplishes both goals and incentivizes farmers to find new ways to support one another,” Representative Stephanie Mickelsen, chair of the Idaho Groundwater Appropriators, said. “We want to thank the leadership of Governor Brad Little and Lt. Governor Scott Bedke, both of whom worked to give our members the support they needed to negotiate a respectful deal with our peers. We also appreciate the Surface Water Coalition and its members for its good-faith approach to creating this agreement. Most of all, we wish to thank our members and highlight their resiliency as they stood tall navigating a difficult situation in which their very livelihoods were at stake.”
The details of the agreement will be shared by the individual water users. The new agreement ensures agriculture can thrive in Idaho while protecting private property rights. Idahoans will continue to work on projects that benefit the aquifer.
Governor Little has been fully engaged in the water issues since taking office in 2019, including taking the following steps:
- Signing the Protecting Idaho Water Sovereignty Act (executive order) that charted a path forward on a new long-term agreement that is driven by Idaho farmers not government bureaucrats
- Working with the Legislature to put half a billion dollars toward water quantity investments over the past three years.
- Putting an additional $10 million to improve health of Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer this summer.
- Hosting a Water Summit in August of 2023 with hundreds of Idaho stakeholders, to identify challenges and potential solutions to water issues in Idaho.
- Directing the Idaho Department of Water Resources to create the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Groundwater Management Plan Advisory Council which has met regularly since 2023 with a goal of creating a groundwater management plan for the aquifer.
- Pushing back on the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to grab Idaho’s groundwater.