ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF WATER SUPPLY

If your water right is curtailed, there are other sources of supply that may be of assistance during drought.  Depending on your circumstances and needs, water can be rented from Idaho's Water Supply Bank or rental pools.  Water may also be exchanged, or common users may enter into rotation agreements to stretch their supply.

Idaho's Water Supply Bank and Rental Pools

Some water users, when they are not using their water rights, choose to lease their unused water rights to the Idaho Water Resource Board's Water Supply Bank.  The Idaho Water Resource Board's Water Supply Bank is managed for the Board by the Idaho Department of Water Resources.  Water that is leased to the Water Supply Bank may then be rented for beneficial purposes by other water users.

Water that is rented from the Water Supply Bank is generally ground water or natural flow.  Storage water is generally rented from a Rental Pool.  Rental Pools can be found in Water District 01 (Snake River Basin above Milner Dam), Water District 63 (Boise River Basin), Water District 65 (Payette River Basin), and Water District 67K (Lake Fork Creek in the Payette River Basin).

More information on the Idaho Water Resource Board's Water Supply Bank and local rental pools, including current pricing, may be found on the Idaho Department of Water Resources' website: Water Supply Bank - Idaho Department of Water Resources.

Exchanges

Exchanges of water rights are often synonymous with a temporary change to an existing water right due to a drought declaration.  http://www.mchughbromley.com/idaho-drought-declarations/.

Any person holding a surface water right may apply to exchange water authorized to be diverted under that water right with the same or a different source, or with water authorized to be diverted under one or more other rights from the same source or another surface water source.  Idaho Code § 42-240.   For example, an exchange can be made between a person owning a natural flow water right and another person owning a storage water right.   Depending on what the water user's water needs are, such an exchange may protect his or her water right or enhance the economic benefit the water user derives from the water right.   The application must be accompanied by an agreement in writing subscribed by the person proposing to exchange the water right and each person or organization owning the rights for which the exchange is proposed to be made.  Id.

The Director of the Idaho Department of Water Resources is required to give public notice in accordance with Idaho Code § 42-203A.  The Director must also ask for advice from the watermaster of the water district in which the exchange is proposed.

The exchange shall be approved in whole or in part, provided no other water rights are injured, no enlargement of use of the original water right or rights occurs, the exchange is consistent with the conservation of water resources, is in the local public interest, and will not adversely affect the local economy of the watershed or local area.

Usually, the Director conditions the approval of an exchange so that the exchange will not be operative at times when water is not available to satisfy the exchange; during such times the right to use the water automatically reverts to the place of use authorized under the water rights.  Idaho Code § 42-240(5).

Water right exchanges can be valuable tools to protect your right to use water or to provide an additional source of supply for a beneficial use.  The attorneys at McHugh Bromley, PLLC can assist water users in evaluating this option as another avenue to protect the right to use water and to get the most benefit from the use of water.