[Vision2020] when the demand exceeds the supply

[Mark Solomon]

See the article below to see and example of the sudden chaos that 
could happen here if we don't address our diminishing water supply.

Mark
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June 12 Rocky Barker's blog: State poised to dry thousands of acres of crops
By Rocky Barker - Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 06/12/07

Idaho Department of Water Resources Director David Tuthill will earn 
his money this week.

A judge dismissed the lawsuit of groundwater users last week and 
lifted the restraining order over Tuthill and he told more than 700 
waterusers Friday he was prepared to carry through his curtailment 
order this week. If he does that then 33,000 acres of crops already 
planted could be dried up this year.

He will tell a Legislative interim committee what he's going to do 
this morning. He has a real quandary. The groundwater users want him 
to grant them a hearing before proceeding with the curtailment so 
they can make their case that the two fish producers have not been 
injured as much as they say they have by the groundwater pumping of 
the Eastern Snake Plain aquifer.

But the senior water users, the fish producers, are telling Tuthill 
to do the curtailment first and only then grant the hearing. If he 
calls the hearing they may go to court to force him to carry out the 
curtailment order.

This all seems to be a lot of process but the stakes are high. Drying 
up so much land could put hundreds of farmers out of business. They 
would default on bank loans and leave towns and counties across the 
northern Magic Valley with less tax revenue. State revenues also 
could suffer.

On the other side, some fish producers already have suffered. Simple 
mitigation - providing water purchased from reservoirs - can't be 
delivered to them easier if at all in some cases. And the groundwater 
users are competing with the Bureau of Reclamation for the reservoir 
water that is available. They send it downriver to aid salmon under 
the terms of the Nez Perce agreement and they pay more than the 
groundwater users say they can afford.