Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Legacy project moves to implementation


Rich McIntyre is the director of the Wood River Legacy Project and managing partner of Crystal Consulting Group.

By RICH McINTYRE

Last March, Gov. Butch Otter signed our Wood River Legacy Bill into law, after the measure won unanimous support in the both the Idaho House and Senate—unprecedented support for a conservation bill in our state Legislature. When that occurred, a new day dawned for rivers in Idaho.

It created, for the first time in Idaho history, a legal tool for citizens to donate privately held water rights to the state for the dedicated purpose of stream flow restoration—without losing ownership or the historic priority date of the right. It also brought together farmers, fishermen, conservationists and irrigation interests to create a win-win, consensus-driven template for restoring stream flows in the Wood River basin.

Following our legislative success, we immediately began planning and are now working to implement the second phase of the project—putting water back in the Big Wood River and Silver Creek. The "local committee" named in the legislation to implement the project includes members of the board of the 37/37M water district (folks like Rob Struthers and Jerry Nance), as well as newly appointed members from the Legacy board (like Andy Munter and Carl Pendleton) and, at our behest, Wood River Land Trust. We have adopted draft by-laws for project management that donors will find easy to work with, and await final approval of the bylaws from the Idaho Water Resources Board at their January meeting.

In January, water right holders in the Wood River Valley will receive a letter announcing the formal implementation of the Legacy Project. That letter will announce a date for the Legacy informational meeting, provide contact information for prospective donors and include a fact sheet on donating water to the project. Donations into the Legacy project will be placed in a local water supply enhancement bank, specifically created for that purpose and managed by the basin watermaster.

The ongoing adjudication has brought water management in the Wood River Basin to a critical crossroads, and the Legacy project has an important role to play. For the first time, you can protect your water right without the cost of applying it. Donations can be made on an annual basis for all or a part of the water right, fully protecting it for your future use—or it can be donated in their entirety. With well over 2,000 formal protests filed on Wood River Valley water rights, some people will want to protect their right without the expense of application while the protests are being heard.

Already, we are meeting with landowners who have come forward with water to protect (and donate). Over the next 60 days, we will be providing Legacy implementation presentations to realtors, attorneys, municipalities and the press, as well as to private landowners.

Because of the financial support of valley residents, and the hard work of the Legacy board, irrigation interests and Idaho Rivers United, the tools are now in place. Idaho water law has been changed. The future of the Big Wood River and Silver Creek are in our hands like never before. Now is the time to step forward and leave your own living legacy for the generations that will follow. If you have questions about project operations, donation specifics, wish to meet or view materials on the project, feel free to contact the Legacy Project at 309-1486 (richmcintyre@msn.com), or basin watermaster Kevin Lakey, at (208) 886.2451 (watermaster@cableone.net).




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