With smart water planning, Idaho can keep its wild rivers flowing

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"While some might think eastern Idaho is in need of additional surface water storage, there are many alternatives that are safer, more cost effective, faster to implement, and better for our natural resources than rebuilding Teton Dam," says Kim Trotter, director of TU's Idaho Water Project. "TU will continue to work with the agencies and other stakeholders to identify these alternatives." Among the best options:

Aquifers. Idaho already has excellent ready-made storage available—in natural aquifers. The Snake River Plain aquifer—an underground water source the size of Lake Erie—offers several advantages: It's already there, partially depleted, and could hold millions of gallons of water. Storing water underground has the added benefits of minimizing pollution and avoiding the tremendous evaporative losses of surface reservoirs.

Water banking, conservation. Other water supply options that should be studied by Idaho include water banking, efficiency upgrades of agricultural irrigation equipment and infrastructure, and municipal water conservation. These are all commonsense, cost-effective alternatives to building a major new dam.

And pursuing these more modest, incremental projects would give Idaho water planners and communities greater flexibility of response in the event of future changes in water demand and growth patterns.

What's more, the recently completed Comprehensive Aquifer Management Plan for Eastern Idaho did not endorse additional surface water storage in the Teton basin. In fact, hydrologic modeling completed as part of the CAMP clearly showed that storage was not necessary to meet the plan's water supply targets, which could be achieved through demand reduction, aquifer recharge, and conversions from ground to surface water sources.