East Greenacres Irrigation District marks 100th anniversary

| August 14, 2021 1:00 AM

POST FALLS — The East Greenacres Irrigation District recently celebrated its 100th anniversary.

"We would like to thank our customers for their support as we partner in responsible conservation efforts," said a district press release on Friday. "With your support we can all enjoy the rich blessings this resource provides."

When the East Greenacres Irrigation District was formed in 1921, a system of dirt ditches transported water from Twin Lakes to a sparsely populated Rathdrum Prairie. The system proved inefficient and expensive to maintain. It also caused fluctuations in Twin Lakes’ water levels, leading to a legal challenge from the Lakeshore Homeowners Association.

The Bureau of Reclamation explored a redesign of the system at the requests of Idaho state legislators, using groundwater from the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer instead of surface water from Twin Lakes. Once completed in 1976, the district had a more-reliable and more-efficient system.

With lake levels stabilized, Twin Lakes saw an increase in tourism and recreational activity and improved fish and wildlife habitats. When the topic of growth and water availability is discussed, remember the district served it first as agriculture with a higher water use before residential development.

Today the East Greenacres Irrigation District includes 14 wells in three well complexes. With a total of 5,300 hp, the system capacity is 58 million gallons per day to continuously fill a 43,446 cubic-foot regulating reservoir and distribute water throughout 89 miles of pipelines ranging from 6 to 27 inches. The district’s boundaries encompass a total of 7,333 acres of which 5,340 acres are classified as irrigable.

East Greenacres serves a population of nearly 10,000 with nearly 4,000 domestic connections and 1,000 irrigation connections. For comparison, the district had fewer than 250 domestic connections 45 years ago.

"The district strongly encourages conservation and wise water use of this precious resource," the release said. "The cost to develop new pumping and storage facilities is extremely expensive."