Idaho Department of Water Resources

Nearly every part of Idaho has been grappling with water supply over the past few years due to drought.

Recent drought years have meant the benchmarks to reverse the aquifer’s decline aren’t being met.

Water managers found June precipitation was strong enough to get by, plus the state changed the methodology for determining who needs to be curtailed and when.

The Idaho Department of Water Resources estimates about 900 groundwater rights dating back as far as 1953 could be shut off this year.

The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer provides drinking water for about 300,000 people.

It's an improvement, but conditions are still slowly recovering from an extreme drought two years ago.

On April 28, Gary Spackman, the director of the Idaho Department of Water Resources, issued a blanket order for all 34 counties south of the Salmon River.

Because of low precipitation so far in 2022, drought conditions are likely to expand in Idaho this spring and summer.

The agreement sets the stage for water management in the Wood River watershed for the next three years.

The budget requests are meant to address increasing resources need to manage water in Idaho, as the population continues to grow at a fast rate.