That might explain a few things:
Posted on 06/11/2024 6:20:28 AM PDT by Red Badger
Idaho farmers are in danger of having their water shut off. The water shutoff order affects half a million acres of farmland and about 6,400 people who use the water. Without water, their farmland is worthless.
The state of Idaho has put a water curtailment order, which is basically a water shutoff order on literally a half million acres of farmland. Many farming this land have already invested in thousands of acres, thousands of dollars per acre, to grow potatoes. It’s too late for them to survive without water.
Why is the water being cut off?
Essentially, this curtailment represents a battle of wills between the Idaho Department of Water Resources and the groundwater districts in eastern Idaho.
Idaho’s waterways are owned by the State as a public trust resource. A water right is the right to divert the state’s public waters and put them to beneficial use. A water right is a “usufructuary right,” meaning a right to use, as opposed to a right to possess.
There isn’t enough water to go around, so senior water users say they want the junior water users (farmers) cut off because they haven’t stuck with the plan. Junior water users are in desperate straits, but senior water users have primary legal rights.
The problem arose because of a difference in how water usage is configured.
If the officials don’t come up with a solution almost immediately, the crops will die.
Farmer Connie Christenson told Local News 8 that unless there is an emergency end to the curtailment order, the water cut-off won’t just mean the end to their potato crop but potentially six generations of farming.
“We wouldn’t be able to take that kind of a hit and continue,” said Christensen. “I mean, maybe you can get a bank to carry you, but it would be crazy for the banks to carry us when we don’t know if we’re ever going to be able to irrigate again.”
The Governor’s office believes there will be an agreement.
Farmer Trevor Belknap explains at the beginning of the video. “I operate a family farm, a fifth-generation family farm in the Snake River Valley of eastern Idaho. I just wanted to visit with you for a minute about the impacts of the water curtailment order that’s been issued by Director Weaver from the Outer Department of Water Resources.
“The situation in which we find ourselves is about as bad as it gets. Not only will we be out of business, but many other businesses will be highly impacted, and you, as my friends and neighbors, will also be impacted because we’re so interconnected.
“If the agriculture economy in eastern Idaho fails, which it surely will if this containment order is in place, it can remain in place; we’ll dry up and blow away just like it did back in the dust bowl of the 30s.
“Banks will fail. Equipment dealers, car dealers, gas stations, and grocery stores all rely on the ag economy that’s here in eastern Idaho.
“The children in our schools, how many of them belong to families who work in some form of ag industry in eastern Idaho? It’s horrible. And we need to fix it. “And I would propose to you that it is not a water problem; it’s a management problem because we have water. Reservoirs are full. The mountains are covered in snow. The river’s been flowing well. So why now?
“Why, after we’ve planted our crops, we have crops in the ground that are already growing? Now, in the middle of June, they pull a curtailment order to say you must cease pumping water.
“The cost is huge. An acre of potatoes costs upward of $4,000 an acre to grow. “How will that ever be recovered? They will not grow without water. And what will that do to everyone else that’s reliant upon us in this area and the state of Idaho? “What will the counties do for roads and bridges, police departments, ambulances, hospitals that rely on tax the tax base. Property like this will become worthless. Without water, the land doesn’t have any value here.”
Watch:
VIDEOS AT LINK.............
I was wondering how far I would have to scroll down this thread before I reached a comment that perfectly reflected my thoughts.
The correct answer was 59.
Thank you.
The California pricks have been covering every open space in east Idaho cities with huge apartment developments. Farm fields are disappearing for houses and apartments. When I first moved to Pocatello, there was a very strict limit on development that is tied to water resources. No water, no development. Somehow, the developers have found a way around that restraint. At the same time those apartments are going up, there are closures of businesses. Where are the apartment dwellers going to earn enough to pay the high rents? Where are they going to shop?
That might explain a few things:
Who are the senior users?
>>>The state has uranium, but not under the potato fields.<<<
Good. I hate it when potato salad glows in the dark..............
I’m guessing municipalities, towns and cities................
An interesting fact, a huge chunk of the water "used" for crop irrigation in Idaho goes right back into the Snake River via the aquifer. The soil is so porous water does not stay exposed long enough to evaporate. Porous soil grows good potatoes. Same as in my garden but I have to water it all the time.
The subject is a complex accounting applied to water measurement but a lot of liberty seems to be being taken with some of the numbers creating a crisis.
We have 12 1/2 acres of property. A few weeks ago, I got a large envelope in the mail. Looked official. As I opened and read it, it was a lengthy questionnaire asking agriculture questions. How much do we farm, what do we grow, do we have animals/livestock, etc. Thought to myself the local government is getting pretty pushy wanting to know all this. We have lived here...Idk, 33-35 yrs now and this is the first time we have ever gotten anything like this questionnaire. I ALMOST started filling it out when I noticed, in small print near the bottom, this was not mandatory. Excellent. This packet went right into the bucket we keep for our burning pile! BUT, I wonder, how soon will we get another where it will be mandatory to fill it out?
You are correct, water is blood and life in the West and people will fight over it to the death. I looked at some retirement places in the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula less than 10 years ago when they were relatively cheap and stayed on the market for a long time. A place with a little ditch that has water rights is golden.
Considering what has happened up there since covid I'm mostly happy I stayed where I am. People are loving the area to death and they will run out of water. Never mind how much property taxes have gone up.
Sounds like a western movie plot I saw over the weekend, starring Willie Nelson, “The Red Headed Stranger”.............
Don’t forget the largest buyer of potatoes in this country is McDonald’s. If Big Mac has to pay more for spuds, you have to pay more for them.
Who “owns” the Twin Falls Canal Co.?
i don’t know how it works in other states, but in Colorado, water ownership is is purely a private property right ... water ownership here is similar to real estate ownership or a mineral right ownership ...
and there is NO question about who gets what amongst the various owners: seniority of water rights is absolute, and it’s always been like that here even starting with the original Colorado Territorial charter, and everybody understands up front what they are buying or not buying when they buy a particular water right ...
basically, whoever made a first claim of water ownership and made a beneficial use of it has the senior right to that amount of water, and everyone thereafter who may purchase that particular water right has the exactly the same rights ...
ownership claims after the first one are ordered according to year of claim and amount beneficially used until there is no more water remaining to claim ...
all owners are ranked according to seniority and amount of original claim, and each year water allocation is strictly according to seniority of claim and amount until none is left to allocate, and allocation is NOT proportional amongst all owners ... so in drought years, the most junior rights holders may get no water at all ...
the lesson here is if you’re gonna buy a water right in Colorado, pay more to buy a more valuable senior water right if you want water during a drought year ...
so senior water users (politicians) say they want the junior water users (farmers) cut off
I have firearms and sharp knives, i’ll harvest wild game, and edible plants.
It is long past time that people stop being so compliant with evil and incompetence. Those things only have as much power as they are given.
Big donors.
WATER RIGHTS IN THE WEST RE USUALLY——
FIRST IN TIME==FIRST IN LINE.
NEVADA WATER RIGHTS HAVE BEEN ADJUDICATED AS FAR BACK AS 1852.
The TRUCKEE RIVER has the MOST LITIGATION of any RIVER in the USA. More than the MISSISSIPPI or the MISSOURI.
IN THE WEST:
WHISKEY IS FOR DRINKING——
WATER IS FOR FIGHTING OVER
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