Gov. Little’s statement on progress toward proving water certainty in 2024 irrigation season

Boise, Idaho – Governor Brad Little commented today on the progress of negotiations to avoid a water curtailment order that could impact hundreds of eastern Idaho farmers.

Two more groundwater districts became compliant on Thursday with an approved mitigation plan, giving them safe harbor from curtailment. The groundwater districts and surface water users remain engaged in finding a path forward for complying with the law, Constitution, and approved mitigation plans.

Jervois Mining? Interesting, I’m read up on that, thanks.

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DOD Enters Agreement to Expand Domestic Manufacturing and Strengthen U.S. Cobalt Supply Chains

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3429442/dod-enters-agreement-to-expand-domestic-manufacturing-and-strengthen-us-cobalt/

EXCERPT (read carefully):

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Policy (OASD(IBP)), through its Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) office entered an agreement with Jervois Mining USA, a subsidiary of Jervois Global Limited, to conduct feasibility studies to expand cobalt extraction in Idaho.

The $15 million agreement, entered into under Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III authorities and utilizing funds appropriated by the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, will enable Jervois to undertake mineral resource drilling that will accelerate the improved definition and expansion of currently known cobalt resources at Jervois’s Idaho Cobalt Operations (ICO) and the adjacent Sunrise deposit and studies to assess a domestic U.S. cobalt refinery. The project is a critical step in the U.S. effort to decrease reliance on overseas sources of strategic and critical minerals.

As a kid I spent summer vacations in Idaho next to the Snake River. It was only when I returned as an adult that I realized how ‘odd’ southern Idaho is.

Like Egypt, you have a big river running through what amounts to a desert. The little town pumped what was called ‘ditch water’ right out of the river. I believe the charge was $25/year for all the water you wanted for your lawn and garden. Sprinklers were working on lawns virtually every day in the summer.

Where it was watered, it was green, where it wasn’t watered it was dry desert scrub. Last time I was there, there were big farms next to the river growing alfalfa supposedly to feed horses in Saudi Arabia.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4245669/posts?page=1

CONSPIRACY NO MORE: Explosive Undercover Footage Reveals Biden’s State Department Official Admitting ‘Great Replacement Theory’ is REAL — Admits Deliberately Importing Criminals

https://x.com/Project_Veritas/status/1803787015068045380?
^ | 6/20/2024 | JIM HOFT

“is Idaho curtailing water supply to thousands of acres of Idaho farmer land in order to direct more water to Aussie Cobalt mining operator, Jervois Mining?”

No junior water rights holders upstream are pumping more than the 2016 agreement allows and there is a 74,000 acre foot shortage to senior water rights holders down stream. Idaho is first in time first in use regardless of upstream or down. The farmers making a stink are the junior water right holders. Mining is not the issue over pumping and more so over planting is. As is typical of the West water rights were granted and based on abnormal wet years so the system is structurally broken. The Western States are largely deserts and should be treated as such you don’t grow grass that takes 60” per year of water to grow in a desert to feed cattle in Saudi Arabia for example looking at you Idaho and California. Alfalfa takes up too 60” of irrigation per year that’s 5 acrefeet per year per acre to grow. That crop should be illegal in desert climates. Potatoes are fairly efficient in water use and can be drip irrigated the junior holders should be required to drip irrigate once they are compliant move to the senior water rights also to drip irrigation. Drought crops should also be looked at like agave who can condense water from the air they do so at night via the CAM vs C3/4 process. This is how Agave is not only the most efficient land plant in biomass per acre but also the most water efficient plant. Agave can be obviously fermented into alcohol but its super high carbohydrate per mass is suitable for any animal feed more so than the cellulose of alfalfa which can only be used by rumens. Think chickens, pigs and sheep/cows vs cattle and sheep only. The yield per acre of agave is also five to ten times that of alfalfa problem is you can’t dry and ship it to Saudi Arabia it’s wet silage only. And it doesn’t make ADM and Monsanto billions plus it is labor intensive vs industrial combines however on th at front it wouldn’t be hard to engineer a mechanical agave harvester it’s just Latin America has literally dirt cheap labor.

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