19 Grants Approved To Address Aging Irrigation In Idaho

This week during its bimonthly meeting in Boise, the Idaho Water Resource Board gave its approval to 19 Aging Infrastructure Grants, plus additional spending for a sustainability project.

Over $7 million spent to improve irrigation Idaho-wide

The 19 new grants awarded total $7.7 million in funding across the state. This is the fourth round of grants in the last two years, which now total about $43 million invested in Idaho's water infrastructure. Two additional rounds of awards are planned in 2024.

The fourth series of AIGs awarded are as follows:

• Black Canyon Irrigation District, Emmett, measurement modernization, $100,000 AIG, $463,397 total cost
• Sunnydell Irrigation District, Rexburg, canal lining project, $2M AIG, $6.9M total cost
• Jefferson Irrigation District, Jefferson County, open canal to pipeline project, $581,488 AIG, $2.5M total
• Twin Falls Canal Co., Twin Falls, high line measurement project, $51,332 AIG, $171,106 total
• Mud Lake Water Users, Mud Lake, canal lining and pump station reconstruction, $800,000 AIG, $2.4M total
• Jefferson Irrigation District, Jefferson County, measurement modernization, $145,648 AIG, $458,800 total
• Last Chance Canal Co., Grace, measurement modernization, $140,674 AIG, $211,000 total
• Farmers Land & Irrigation Co., Bancroft, canal diversion replacement, $89,667 AIG, $269,000 total
• Mountain Home Irrigation District, Mountain Home, Tunnel 13 and 15 repairs, $394,403 AIG, $1.19M total
• Parks and Lewisville Irrigation Co., Lewisville, SCADA Phase 2 projects, $83,852 AIG, $254,098 total
• Dalton Gardens Irrigation District, Dalton Gardens, irrigation transmission line rehabilitation project and pump house, $1.36M AIG, $4.1M total
• Fremont Madison Irrigation District, St. Anthony, Crosscut Canal modernization project, $26,680 AIG, $80,850 total
• American Falls Reservoir District No. 2., Shoshone, gate repair, $40,000 AIG, $135,051 total
• Teton Irrigation District, Driggs, open canal to pipeline conversion, $58,008 AIG, $175,780 total
• New Sweden Irrigation District, Idaho Falls, Martin Flume relocation/expansion, $672,891 AIG, $2M total
• Bilbrey Ditch Co., Emmett, canal automation, $40,173 AIG, $121,735 total
• Capital View Irrigation District, Eagle, pipe delivery modernization, $59,550 AIG, $198,500 total
• Moore Canal Water Users Association, Moore, conversion of open canal to enclosed pipeline, $1M AIG, $3.2M total

Regional Water Sustainability Project receives additional $1.2 million

An additional $1.2 million was approved for a 30% design plan for the Lower Clearwater Exchange Project. The sustainability project is in cooperation with the Lewiston Orchards Irrigation District, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Per the IDWR:

The project is intended to fully enact a water exchange between Lewiston Orchards Irrigation District (LOID) and Nez Perce Tribe by allowing LOID to divert irrigation water from the Clearwater River to replace pumping from a declining aquifer and surface water streams that support imperiled steelhead and salmon stocks. LOID and the Nez Perce Tribe paid for the initial design work and are pursuing additional cost-share funding from the Bureau of Reclamation.

Board also funds two Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer projects

The Idaho Water Resource Board also approved two smaller amounts of funding related to the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer projects. $571,000 in ARPA funding was granted to construct the Poitevin Injection Well Site Expansion, which will cover the cost of developing two recharge wells. An additional $94,000 was granted to conduct a System Capacity Improvement Study with the Butte Market Lake Canal Company, in order to explore options for improving delivery capacity related to aquifer recharge.