Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Hailey moves to secure water rights

Hiawatha Canal used for irrigating city parks

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By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

Hailey city leaders are planning to use more non-potable water to irrigate parks, hoping to avoid possible future restrictions on watering residential lawns because of expected changes in water resource management in Idaho.

In 2010, the city received a report from SPF Engineering stating that “conjunctive administration” of water rights in Blaine County is “virtually certain” within the next five to 10 years. 

Idaho law requires that older water rights take precedence during times of water scarcity. Currently, however, surface-water rights may be cut off even as junior groundwater rights are unaffected. Conjunctive management would allow holders of senior water rights, whether ground or surface, to retain top priority.

Hailey’s year-round potable, domestic water supply comes from a spring in Indian Creek Canyon with water rights dating from the 1880s.

But when summer rolls around, Hailey residents consume about five times the amount of water they use in winter for watering lawns and landscaping. Hailey’s summer water supply comes primarily from four municipal wells with water rights dating only from the 1970s, and is therefore vulnerable to a “call” from downstream water rights holders, including large-scale farming operations.

The SPF report lists nine options to address that scenario. They include purchase of land with water rights, aquifer recharging in exchange for well-pumping rights, and increased conservation efforts.

One option the city is continuing this summer is the development of infrastructure that will allow use of city-owned water rights from the Hiawatha Canal, which starts at Zinc Spur north of Hailey and serves irrigators as far south as Woodside.

The city has senior water rights from the 1880s for about 1,100 gallons per day of non-potable water from the canal between April 15 and Oct. 15 each year. 

Much of that water is unused, but if the city uses more of it to irrigate public parks, other water supplies would be available for residential lawns and gardens.

Public Works Director Tom Hellen said irrigation systems in Curtis and Deerfield parks have already been modified to use non-potable canal water, and that a planting strip along Woodside Boulevard will soon be also hooked up to the Hiawatha Canal.

Hellen said pipes would also soon be built from Woodside to Keefer and Balmoral parks, decreasing further the city’s reliance on its municipal wells during summer.

Hellen said the city also has plans to apply to the Idaho Department of Water Resources for a permit to transfer a portion of Hailey’s Hiawatha Canal water to the Big Wood River and develop a new canal diversion closer to downtown to irrigate Hop Porter, Lion’s and Heagle parks.

“We’re striving to use our Hiawatha water rights as long as they are available to us,” Hellen said. 

He said that during very dry periods, even the Hiawatha water right could be curtailed by senior water rights users with rights dating from earlier in the 1880s.

Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com

 

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