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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2016 VOLUME 89, NUMBER 48 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 BACK TO THE John O’Connell/Capital Press Driggs, Idaho, rancher Stephen Bagley shows a dry creekbed through his pasture, where he plans to restore fl ood irrigation. Bagley and other agricultural producers in the area are looking to use fl ood irrigaiton to restore declining groundwater levels. FUTURE Aquifer recharge on the east side of Teton Valley More than a third of all annual recharge in the region relies on canal and irrigation application seepage. Capital Press Mean annual recharge by source (Acre-feet per year) Direct precipitation: 23,182 or 16% Irrigation application seepage: 11,514 or 8% 32 Jackson Lake 33 33 Rexburg Stream channel seepage: Canal 63,442 seepage: or 45% 43,051 or 31% YELLOWSTONE NAT’L PARK Driggs ak GRAND TETON N.P. 20 Idaho Falls N Wyo. Source: Teton Water Users Association Alan Kenaga/Capital Press F . y’s nr Teton R Idaho Total recharge: 141,189 acre-feet/year 15 Sn C hris Colson champions an admittedly antiquated and inef- fi cient method of watering crops — fl ood irrigation. The Boise-based regional biologist for Ducks Unlimit- ed is part of a movement that recognizes the wildlife and water-supply benefi ts of fl ood irrigation, and the need to make certain it continues to be used in fl oodplains and other strategic locations across the West. Ironically, his efforts to preserve fl ood irrigation often tap the same federal dollars that help farmers install high-effi ciency pivots, which threaten to render fl ood irrigation obsolete. The attraction for Colson and others is that fl ood irriga- tion, with its leaky canals and standing water, helps recharge shrinking aquifers and provides migratory birds with a stop- over on their annual pilgrimages between the Arctic and points south. Turn to IRRIGATION, Page 12 TARGHEE NAT’L FOR. detail He By JOHN O’CONNELL 20 Mont. or k Movement seeks to bring back flood irrigation in some areas Teton Co., Idaho 20 miles 89 TOP PHOTO: Migrating birds stop over at a fl ooded fi eld on Joe Villagrana’s ranch in Lake County, Ore. Several projects are in the works around the West to restore fl ood irrigation to benefi t waterfowl and wildlife and replenish declining groundwater levels. Courtesy of Ducks Unlimited State and local GMO bans declared legal 9th Circuit rules federal law doesn’t pre-empt state and local prohibitions By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Federal law does not pre- empt state or local governments from banning genetically engi- neered crops that have been de- regulated by USDA, according to a federal appeals court. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed an earlier rul- ing that held Maui County in Ha- waii was prohibited from banning commercialized genetically modi- fi ed organisms in 2014 because the ordinance was pre-empted by fed- Workers bag tassels of GMO corn to collect pollen in a Syn- genta test plot on the island of Kauai in this fi le photo. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has resolved a lawsuit over a GMO ban in Hawaii’s Maui County that has implications for other Western states. eral rules for biotechnology. Because the USDA lacks ju- risdiction over biotech crops once they’re deregulated, there is no confl ict between local regulations and federal rules and laws, the 9th Circuit said. Turn to GMO, Page 12 Dan Wheat/Capital Press Ex-legislator joins fi ght against What’s Upstream Save Family Farming hires Bill Hinkle By DON JENKINS Capital Press Courtesy of House Republican Caucus Former Washington state lawmaker Bill Hinkle will be development director of Save Family Farming, a group formed this year to respond to the What’s Upstream advocacy campaign. Save Family Farming, formed this year to push back against the What’s Upstream campaign, has hired former Washington state lawmaker Bill Hinkle as its development director, hoping he will help the emergent group establish itself as a statewide defender of agriculture in the public arena. Hinkle represented a Cen- tral Washington district for 10 years and was on the House Agriculture Committee. He will strengthen ties with pro- ducers across the state, Save Family Farming’s only other employee, director Gerald Baron, said. Save Family Farming originated in northwestern Washington, but has sought a statewide reach. Baron, a public relations specialist, has led the group’s response to What’s Upstream, a lobbying campaign organized by the Puget Sound-based Swinom- ish Indian tribe and funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. The group has rebutted claims by What’s Upstream that farmers are unregulated polluters of water. Govern- ment watchdog agencies are Turn to FIGHT, Page 12