IDWR seeks input on water rights

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Department of Water Resources will be hosting several public meetings throughout Bonner and Boundary counties in September regarding the third phase of the Northern Idaho Adjudication process.

IDWR officials plan to request fiscal authorization from the 2020 Idaho Legislature in order to proceed with a water rights adjudication in the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Basin. The state is also seeking public input on whether to ask the Legislature to authorize an adjudication of Kootenai River Basin water rights.

The public meetings will take place Sept. 9-11 in Sandpoint, Clark Fork, Priest River, Priest Lake and Bonners Ferry.

“The department really wants to hear from the water users about the conduct of these adjudications as we move forward, so we are really hoping to see folks come out at the public information meetings and let us know how they think we ought to proceed,” said Shelley Keen, water allocation bureau chief for IDWR.

“We think it is an opportunity for people to have their property rights defined and established, and establish the best way to protect their water rights going forward into the future.”

Water rights are property rights, Keen said, adding that a lot of water uses in Idaho have not been confirmed as water rights through a court adjudication process. Confirming the water right establishes what the water is used for and how much is necessary to accomplish that purpose, he said, as well as the priority date for the water right.

“It’s the priority date that establishes who gets water in a time of shortage,” Keen said. “... The adjudication process will allow people who haven’t had their water rights confirmed yet to come forward and claim what those are and have those uses, quantities and priority dates and their ownership of the rights confirmed by the court. Then if they ever need to protect their interests from future development or have their water right delivered in a time of shortage, then it’s that water right that will establish what they are entitled to.”

According to a statement by IDWR officials, population growth and development can lead to conflicts over resources. In times of shortage, water rights are distributed via a priority system of “first in time, first in right.” Under the Prior Appropriation Doctrine, the older, more “senior” water right entitles its holder to fully divert water before any younger, or “junior” water right holder can divert water, according to the statement. Also, Keen said, the state-based water right adjudication process is important as it is a way to get the United States involved in defining water rights in state court rather than in a federal process. Under the McCarran Amendment, Congress required the United States to participate in general stream adjudications in the individual states, Keen said. They have participated in the different adjudication processes throughout Idaho, he said.

The Northern Idaho Adjudications were authorized in 2006 by the Idaho Legislature, to be accomplished in three phases, Keen said. The first was the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane River Basin Adjudication, then the Palouse River Basin Adjudication. The third phase is the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille River Basin, which initially included the Kootenai River Basin, Keen said. However, it was excluded by the Legislature in 2008 to allow time to decide if adjudicating the Kootenai River Basin was a “good idea.”

As the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane adjudication process nears an end and the Palouse adjudication has started, the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille process is set to begin in the next couple of years, Keen said. As such, IDWR officials decided it is a good time to have the conversation about the Kootenai River Basin again regarding whether it is appropriate to adjudicate water rights in that area or not.

According to the statement, there are several important considerations to keep in mind regarding the Northern Idaho Adjudications. First, water users may defer the filing of claims for the diversion of surface or groundwater for domestic or stock water use for up to 13,000 gallons a day until a later time. Also, although North Idaho is often considered to be an area of abundant water supplies, much of the water used is diverted from smaller more finite water resources such as springs, small tributary streams, and aquifers.

Some background on the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Basin water use according to the IDWR statement:

- Of the approximately 2,613 existing water right filings in the basin, only 394 are from the Pend Oreille River or Pend Oreille Lake.

- By comparison, 480 filings are from a spring or springs and 663 are from groundwater.

- 794 water right records are unconfirmed statutory claims. It is likely many other uses are unrecorded. Delay makes it more difficult for longtime water users to substantiate the origins (priority dates) of their claims.

Some background on water rights in the Kootenai River Basin:

- Of the approximately 925 existing water right filings in the basin, only 44 are from the Kootenai and Moyie Rivers.

- By comparison, 261 filings are from a spring or springs and 213 are from ground water.

- 229 water right records are unconfirmed statutory claims. It is likely many other water uses are unrecorded. Delay makes it more difficult for longtime water users to substantiate the origins, or priority dates of their claims

On Sept. 9, meetings will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Clark Fork Public Library, 601 Main St.; and from 6-8 p.m. at the Best Wester Edgewater Resort in Sandpoint, 56 Bridge St. On Sept. 10, two meetings will be held in Bonners Ferry, one from 1-3 p.m. and one from 6-8 p.m., both at the Bonners Ferry Gateway Visitors Center, 6373 Bonner St. The final day of meetings on Sept. 11 will be in West Bonner County, with the first meeting from 1-3 p.m. at the Inn at Priest Lake in Coolin, 5310 Dickensheet Rd., and the final meeting from 6-8 p.m. at the Priest River Senior Center, 339 East Jackson.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.