Serving Idaho Since 1904

By Daren R. Coon

Secretary-Treasurer

Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District

Newcomers to Idaho may sometimes wonder why our state is dotted with so many dams

and reservoirs and is crisscrossed with some 20,000 miles of canals.

This water short year of 2001 should have provided a compelling answer. Water is the

single most crucial part of survival for Idaho's total economy.

In a year with near record low water levels, storage reservoirs have saved the day again.

Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District supports some 64,000 acres of farms, gardens and

lawns; plus 6,600 residential and commercial lots using pressurized urban irrigation

systems. The low water supplies mean we will stop delivering water about September 10.

That's a full month earlier than usual. Fortunately, the stored water we had in the Boise

River reservoirs meant we were largely able to supply all our users with enough water to

get them through the farmers' growing year. That scene has been replayed at dozens of

irrigation districts and canal companies around the state who get storage water from

reservoirs.

The Boise River system with its two storage reservoirs plus Lake Lowell are like savings

accounts in which we deposited what water there was from the low snowpack. Then, over

the past few months, millions of gallons of precious water were carefully delivered via

releases from the two dams. That water supported irrigation, rafting, fishing, aesthetics and

a lot of other things we take for granted. In the Treasure Valley, those three "water savings

accounts" were able to continue to supply irrigation water to well over 200,000 acres of

land.

Without Arrowrock, Anderson Ranch and Lake Lowell, the only water available would have

been the natural flows in the river coming from melting snow and springs. In this time of far-

below-normal snowpack, coupled with our severe water shortage, Idaho's rivers would be

mere trickles.

Without reservoirs, farmers across the southern half of our naturally arid state would have

been out of irrigation water weeks ago. Without the stored water being systematically

released from our reservoirs, most all of our rivers would be flowing at drastically low

levels.

For Idaho farmers, storage reservoirs like American Falls, Black Canyon, Milner, Arrowrock,

Palisades, Ririe, Minidoka and a host of others have made prosperity possible for

generations.

Furthermore it's not just farmers. In our area, white water rafting trips on the Payette have

become a major economic factor. This summer industry is made possible in spite of the dry

summers by regulated releases of stored water from the Cascade and Deadwood

reservoirs. After all, Boise celebrates the nationally known and financially successful Boise

River Festival.

I haven't even touched on hydropower generated for our use with water flowing out of

storage reservoirs, the flood control provided by reservoirs such as Lucky Peak, or the

recreational value Idahoans place on water skiing, boating, fishing, sailing, swimming and

other activities common to our reservoirs.

Idaho's irrigation reservoirs have helped bring 4 million acres under cultivation in our state

and have created a Multi Billion Dollar agricultural economy. They have given us some of

the lowest electricity rates in the nation. They have made us a national Mecca for outdoor,

water-based recreation and tourism.

Without reservoirs our state would literally dry up and wither on the vine.

Irrigation Reservoirs