Idaho water pumpers face curtailment

TWIN FALLS (AP) - South-central Idaho groundwater pumpers might have to start slowing down this week.

Idaho Department of Water Resources Director Gary Spackman on Saturday denied a request by groundwater pumpers to delay a water curtailment order.

The Times-News reported that the order includes 14 cities and about 157,000 acres of land.

"We have dairies, businesses and municipalities making a good effort to make that deadline," said Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley. "I think the key here is not to overreact to this, including the Department of Water Resources."

Rangen Inc., a Hagerman-based fish farm and feed producer, has senior water rights but has not been getting its legal share of water due to groundwater pumping from the East Snake Plain Aquifer.

Courts have ruled that removing groundwater reduces the flows from springs, violating the water rights of those with earlier claims.

Idaho Groundwater Appropriators have been building a pipeline to deliver water to Rangen to replace the lost water, but late Friday the groundwater pumpers told the state it couldn't meet a Sunday deadline to complete the pipeline.

"They were supposed to deliver water today," Rangen attorney Fritz Haemmerle said Monday. He said the next step in the process is for Spackman to start ordering groundwater pumping shutdowns.

He said Rangen has rights to 70 cubic feet per second of water, but that's gone down to about 10 cubic feet per second due to groundwater pumping.

Officials at the Idaho Department of Water Resources weren't available due to the holiday.