Press correspondent
Sen. Shawn Keough introduces bill, Eskridge, Anderson are co-sponsors
BOISE -- A bill to exempt three river basins in Boundary and Bonner counties from Idaho's water rights adjudication law was introduced Thursday in the Legislature by Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint.
Enacted in 2006, the existing state law for defining North Idaho water rights in court requires the comprehensive adjudication of surface water and groundwater rights throughout the region.
Keough said, however, that conflicting legal opinions recently created a public outcry in legislative District 1 and the need to put the brakes on part of the adjudication process via Senate Bill 1249. The legal differences of opinion centered on whether defining North Idaho water rights through the courts would be beneficial or harmful to stakeholders.
"As a senator, I say slow up the train, stop the train, so non-lawyers can get information," Keough said.
The Boundary and Bonner counties river basins weren't scheduled to be considered for water rights adjudication until 2011 "at the earliest," but an accelerated schedule brought the issue to the forefront, Keough said.
"An enormous amount of people have made it clear that they do not want (adjudication) to move forward at this time; that they just simply do not have the information that they feel they need," she said.
Along with Keough, co-sponsors of SB 1249 are District 1 Reps. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, and George Eskridge, R-Dover.
"When we supported the (2006) bill originally, it seemed to be pretty clear that we needed to do this for the protection of our water systems up in North Idaho ... but ... the information became a little cloudy if that's really going to help us, or it's not going to help us," Eskridge said.
SB 1249 would delete North Idaho Adjudication Basins 96 through 98, which are defined in current law as "the Kootenai and Clark Fork-Pend Oreille river basins." The measure is expected to be assigned to a Senate committee today.
Proponents of water rights adjudication say defining rights to water through a legal process protects local user interests, but opponents of the process are concerned that the same mechanism could be used by outside interests to grab from an abundant North Idaho water supply, according to Keough.
Keough said it's now unclear what effect the required water rights adjudication would have on Washington state interests trying to obtain Rathdrum Prairie groundwater.
Eskridge said it's also unclear what impact adjudication might have on "downstream fishing" challenges from the federal government.
"The information has become real cloudy," Eskridge said. "Our citizens have become concerned to the degree that we don't think it's the proper thing to continue having Bonner and Boundary counties involved in the adjudication process, at least until we get better information and the citizens in our area are more aware of the real need, if there is a real need for adjudication."
Last year, Kootenai County commissioners considered joining the other northern counties in asking the adjudication process be delayed, but voted 2-1 in favor of continuing with it.
"We could maybe ask the governor and (the Idaho) Department of (Water) Resources to delay it," Eskridge said, "but I'm not sure we could do that, because we've got a conflict here between our counties and Kootenai County, who, I understand, are supporting adjudication. So, I think the cleanest way to approach it is to take water from Boundary County out."
Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, on Wednesday said he is working on five pieces of North Idaho water rights legislation.
"Personally, I think we need to stop (adjudication), but it don't look like that's going to happen," Harwood said. "But somehow we need to make it palatable to North Idaho."
Harwood estimated that 90 percent to 95 percent of the voters in his legislative district are opposed to adjudication. "So, for me to go along with it would be wrong," Harwood said.
The North Idaho water rights adjudication legislation became law about two years ago. The Idaho Legislature came back last year and approved $1.3 million to begin the multi-year adjudication process on the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. That measure also became law.
The $1.3 million for North Idaho adjudication purposes is available through the state budget year ending June 30, said Keough, who also noted there is no current consensus on the water rights adjudication issue within the North Idaho delegation.
"And I think you'll hear a lively debate on the budget in JFAC (Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee)," Keough said. "And I think you'll see a split in the northern delegation on those that are going to come down squarely for (adjudication) and those that are going to come down squarely against it."
Hmm wrote on Jan 12, 2008 8:09 AM: