Following up on his success helping to shepherd the Wood River Legacy Project into law before the Idaho Legislature in early 2007, Hailey resident Rich McIntyre has turned his focus to Indian Creek.
The passage of the Legacy Project enabled Big Wood River water rights holders to leave water in-stream rather than be required to use them.
If McIntyre is successful, Indian Creek, a small stream originating in the foothills of the Pioneer Mountains northeast of Hailey, could someday flow all the way to the Big Wood River as it once did before ranchers diverted it for irrigation purposes in the early 1900s. The project's other primary goal is to resolve existing flooding issues faced by Hailey's Northridge neighborhood, he said in an interview Monday.
The tentative plan, which McIntyre said has the support of the Idaho Department of Water Resources, is to construct a new man-made channel to route Indian Creek all the way to the river.
McIntyre was scheduled to brief the Blaine County Commission on the plan on Tuesday morning.
He said the issue has come to a head in recent years with the conversion of former ranch lands in the area north of Hailey to subdivisions. Whereas the use of water from Indian Creek for irrigation purposes meant that little, if any, of that flow went unused, today's residential neighborhoods in the area use less water.
While not a bad thing, McIntyre said, that has translated into a greater threat of flooding in the area, which did see some flooding during the past two winters. He said that in the event of a major 100-year or more flood, residential areas within and to the north of Hailey could see major flooding.
"Indian Creek has nowhere to go right now," he said. "Northridge would certainly get flooded."
McIntyre said that while the exact route of the old Indian Creek channel isn't known, the mouth of the creek where it historically poured into the Big Wood was recently discovered to be just north of Albertson's Food & Drug in Hailey.
McIntyre said reconnecting Indian Creek to the Big Wood would benefit fish and wildlife. In addition, he said it would benefit Indian Creek water rights holders by giving them the ability to lease, sell or donate their water for downstream uses.
He said entities that have been included in the discussions so far include the Department of Water Resources, Hailey planning staff, the Idaho Transportation Department, the Wood River Land Trust and Idaho Rivers United. He said staff members with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game have been invited to take part in the discussions as well.
The state of Idaho has permitting oversight over the proposal.
