Richard McIntyre is the managing partner of Crystal Consulting Group in Hailey and directs the Wood River Legacy Project.
By RICHARD McINTYRE
The saying goes "there is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come." That which many thought impossible has come to pass because archaic water law that precluded stream flow restoration was no longer acceptable to a diverse, bipartisan group of concerned basin citizens. Credit for the success of the Wood River Legacy Project is due to many people throughout the basin and state who made this groundbreaking legislation possible, and look to a hopeful future.
The status quo, as comfortable as it may be, can and sometimes should change. Sometimes things have been "that way" for so long, people forget what once was, and what might be again. The annual fish kill in the lower Big Wood is a case in point.
Every year in early summer, the Big Wood River is dammed to go into the Bypass Canal, and when it does, the stench of dead and dying fish floats across the lower valley. It has been that way for many decades and is, candidly, not the fault of any specific person or group. Indeed, one could reasonably point a finger at the state and valley community as a whole for allowing this to become a fact of life. For a county that is accepted as the most environmentally progressive in Idaho (a short walk, granted), the fact that this has continued unabated for decades is a black eye to everyone, ordinary citizens, farmers and politicians alike.
The valley should not continue to turn a blind eye to this annual environmental disaster, nor should they expect the irrigators to shoulder the full burden of correcting it. The river need not be bulldozed shut in one day. If it were done incrementally over a period of as few as three or four days, the fish that now die by untold hundreds could move up or downstream, adding to the recreational and financial bounty of the river.
The same can be said of the annual closing of the District 45 canal in Bellevue. While we heartily applaud the individual efforts of people who annually attempt to salvage the tremendous numbers of stranded, dying fish, this is not a long-term solution. As is the case with the Bypass Canal, if the flow were shut off over a period of days, trout would return to the Big Wood instead of dying in massive numbers.
Fish screens at the intake head gates are the real answer, but we need not wait for state funding and public outrage to force that outcome. The near-term solution does not appear to be rocket science. With help, irrigators can change this longstanding practice, which unfortunately reinforces the incorrect assumption of many that farmers care only about their crops.
When I have raised this issue before, I have been told that closing the ditches slowly will cost additional time and money. This may well be the case, and we know that for many, agriculture continues to be a financially challenging way of life. Let us also accept that there has been a degree of abrogation of responsibility by the community as a whole, so let's offer valley agriculture a community solution.
To the Bypass and District 45 canal folks: If you require help, tell us how much assistance you need to change the way the ditches are opened and closed and the community will help. Building on the lessons of the Legacy Project, we'll also listen, because the solution may not be as simple as it appears. This is not a blame game. It is about working together.
I am confident the entire valley community, not just the conservation community, will assist. Because we can all agree that the Wood River fishery, just like valley agriculture, is something we all need to protect and support.
