July 10, 2025 – Council Minutes

EIWRC BOARD MEETING
Thursday, July 10, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Sugar City Council Chambers, 10 E. Center Street, Sugar City
Meeting Minutes

Present: Roger Warner, Keith Esplin, Bob Turner, Skyler Johns, Brad Buttars, Mayor Carroll, Princton Lee, Dave Richards, Mayor August Christensen, Aaron Dalling, and Mayor Casper via Zoom.

1. Welcome – Roger Warner

2. Administrative Business 
   1. Motion by Mayor August to approve minutes from last meeting; seconded by Brad Buttars; Motion carried.
   2. Dave Richards moved to approve payment of invoices; Brad Buttars seconded; and the motion carried. 

3. Updates/Developments
   1. Current Water Situation – Keith
      1. Many canals started using storage water a lot sooner than usual. Reservoirs are drafting down very quickly. 
      2. American Falls Reservoir is drafting fast because of flow augmentation water and Idaho Power water.
      3. Discussion regarding risks to ground water pumpers and the settlement agreement if the water supply doesn’t improve. 
      4. BOR and Committee of Nine at odds this year because BOR got full allocation this year and because the forecasting was way off this year. In the past, the Committee reversed the flow augmentation numbers by increasing it, but BOR won’t reduce it now that supply predictions are so far off. (Dropping from 102% flow predicted at Heise in April to about 82% a couple of months later.)
   2. ESPA Modeling Committee Report – Roger
      1. IDWR indicates Jensens Grove only contributes 30 some percent to the flows below Blackfoot, which go to SWC. They won’t give more credit for it. Others in the scientific community think that the benefit to the lower reaches is around 80% or more. Jennifer Sukow, the principal modeler for IDWR has indicated willingness to look at results from a common-sense view point to see if they seem reasonable.  Keith will follow-up on Jensen Grove modeling results.
   3. Problems with Domestic Well legislation – Roger
      1. After the legislation passed, IWUA anticipated that IDWR would issue a memorandum on the enforcement of the legislation, which they signed off on during the session. The memorandum has been issued:
         1. Hung a lot of developers out to dry. Many developers have already spent lots of money on approved plats; the memorandum did not grandfather in these projects; so, the new wells drilled in a subdivision are now limited to in-house use. 
         2. The impact will be on subdivisions that have already started development with the expectation that they could have domestic wells. Some sales have already been lost.
         3. There is proposed language circulating to fix the issue, but it is unclear if a special session will be held to fix it. 

4. Brent Lawson visit – Keith
   1. Working with investor who will lend between $2 million and $200 million for water projects
   2. He will attend our seminar and visit people with Keith the following day.
5. EIWR Coalition Seminar / Workshop plans – Keith
   1. Combined with Henry’s Fork Watershed Council Tour
   2. Discussion of potential new storage
   3. Senator Cook will be the keynote speaker
      1. The watershed council has policies in place that prevent them from taking sides on certain issues, so we cannot have Cook distributing his petition cards; 
   4. Ask Alan Jackson to discuss issues with water supply and the new mitigation agreement, which is being impacted by the current drought.
   5. Rob Van Kirk from HFF will be asked to address flow augmentation impacts in his report. 
   6. Mike Hilliard, from BOR, will attend to help discuss issues with the Henry’s Fork Basin Study, including a possible rebuild of the Teton Dam.
   7. Dan Davidson, Minidoka Irrigation District, will speak about Jackson Lake dam; discussions have been that if they raise it one foot you’ll get 30,000 acre feet. Discussion is to raise Minidoka Dam four feet which could add another 30,000. 
   8. Jeff Raybould will represent the IWRB and Stephanie will be asked to IGWA on the Q&A panel 
   9. Virtual tour will have drone footage taken by the Bingham Groundwater District of the Teton Dam, Lane Lake, and Ashton Dam sites. 
   10. Snake River Headwaters Group – mimics the Henry’s Watershed Council will be on the Q&A panel.
   11. Bryan Patton & Cynthia Clark from the IWRB, as well as Dan Davidson will hopefully be on the panel.
   12. Discussion on who invites should be sent to. 
   13. August 19, 9:00 am Romance Theater, Rexburg
   14. Sponsorships Needed ASAP – Dean and Brad are heading the committee, but other board members’ help is also need.  A flyer will be available soon.

4. Meeting Adjourned 

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