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CapitalPress.com
August 12, 2016
Restrictions mulled for ESPA tributary wells
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
BOISE — Idaho Depart-
ment of Water Resources
Director Gary Spackman is
considering the formation of
a groundwater management
area that could force irriga-
tors near Eastern Snake Plain
Aquifer tributaries to join
efforts to stabilize declining
groundwater levels.
State statute grants the
director authority to form a
groundwater
management
area when groundwater con-
ditions become critical, pre-
venting water rights from be-
ing illed.
Hundreds of water users
attended 10 public meetings,
hosted in communities around
Eastern Idaho and Magic Val-
ley July 25-27. Spackman
will continue accepting writ-
ten comments on the concept
through Sept. 1 and plans to
render a decision sometime
thereafter.
“Water calls are a poor
way to manage the Eastern
Snake Plain Aquifer,” Spack-
man said in a press release.
“We are looking to ind ways
to manage the ESPA in a more
proactive fashion.”
If the director deems the
situation is indeed critical,
he’ll then have to determine
the management area’s scope.
IDWR hydrology section
manager Sean Vincent said
including the 20 tributar-
ies in the management area
would impose new burdens
on hundreds of thousands of
acres that have thus far been
exempt. Precise igures on
acreage and the number of
irrigators near the tributaries
should be forthcoming in the
next few weeks, he said. Vin-
cent said IDWR’s technical
data show the tributaries are
directly linked to the aquifer,
though it could take decades
for the effects of stabilization
efforts from some tributar-
ies to be fully realized in the
ESPA and adding them to the
management area would in-
crease complexity.
“I think it may be just an
issue of fairness,” Vincent
said. “If they are having an
impact to the water budget
and they are junior groundwa-
ter pumpers, some would say
they should be administered
as well.”
Late last season, the Sur-
face Water Coalition and
groundwater districts repre-
sented by Idaho Ground Water
Appropriators Inc. reached a
water call settlement requiring
well users to reduce consump-
tion, purchase supplemental
water, convert some users from
groundwater to surface irriga-
tion and recharge the aquifer
by injecting surface water into
the groundwater table.
The state also committed
to building its infrastructure
and conduct annual recharge
to help stabilize the aquifer,
which has been declining for
about 60 years.
IDWR oficials say man-
agement area language gov-
erning groundwater districts
would be based on the agree-
ment terms, ensuring they
would notice little change.
Newly regulated users would
be invited to help IDWR de-
velop plans and terms.
IGWA Executive Director
Lynn Tominaga said his orga-
nization will take an oficial
position later this month on
the creation of a management
area.
Though Tominaga said
members are concerned about
the potential for a new layer of
bureaucracy, he added, “Most
of the IGWA districts favor
anybody who is taking water
out of the aquifer having to be
part of the solution.”
Rich Rigby, special assis-
tant to Spackman, said IDWR
expected strong resistance to
the concept and heard plenty
of opposition during meet-
ings.
“The aquifer is too import-
ant of a resource to let slide,”
Rigby said.
Mike Telford, who farms
4,000 acres of well-irrigated
land in the Big Lost drainage,
will face new restrictions if a
management area encompass-
ing tributaries is created. But
some of his wells are now
producing half of their former
volumes, and he believes it’s
time to act.
“Most everybody under-
stands there’s a problem,”
Telford said.
Judge upholds protested water transfer
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
TWIN FALLS, Idaho — A state
district judge has afirmed a transfer
of water rights from the Idaho-Neva-
da border to the Berger area south of
Twin Falls.
The decision comes two years af-
ter local citizens began protesting the
proposed transfer, which they contend
will dry up their domestic wells.
At issue was a November 2015
amended inal order by the Idaho
Department of Water Resources that
would shift a water right of 66 acre-
feet annually from a ranch near Jack-
pot, Nev., to Cedar Ridge Dairy south
of Twin Falls.
Upon judicial review, District
Judge Eric Wildman on Aug. 3 upheld
the order, stating substantial evidence
in the record supports the transfer.
That ruling is a disappointment but
no surprise to Richard Parrott, who pe-
titioned for the judicial review to pro-
tect existing water rights in the Berger
area, including those that supply his
sixth-generation farm.
“He said I’m not affected. I say I’m
representing those other people who
are, and the Supreme Court allows it,”
Parrott said of the judge’s ruling.
Parrott petitioned for the review in
December after a lengthy protest with
IDWR didn’t render the results he and
his neighbors had sought.
Wildman, however, ruled IDWR
Director Gary Spackman’s inding that
the transfer will not result in injury to
existing water rights in the Berger area
is supported by substantial evidence.
Parrott disagrees, saying water has
always been scarce on the Salmon
Tract and that additional ground wa-
ter use will further draw down water
levels.
IDWR “proved it in their way but
common sense doesn’t dictate that
nobody will get injured. The common
sense is that with more and more with-
drawals, somebody’s well is going to
go down,” he said.
Aquifer low
The heart of the issue is the hy-
draulic connectivity between the ex-
isting point of diversion near Jackpot
and the proposed points of diversion
34 miles north at Cedar Ridge Dairy
operations, both within IDWR Admin-
istrative Basin 47.
Wildman stated the director’s ind-
ing of connectivity is supported by
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Richard Parrott, with grandson Tucker and dog Taz, pauses on the Buhl, Idaho, farm where he now lives. He has been involved
in a protest of a water transfer that will affect water rights in the Berger area, where his long-time family farm is located.
a partial decree by the Snake River
Basin Adjudication District Court in-
structing all water rights within the
basin to be administered as connected
sources of water.
“That’s a watershed on paper only.
They treat the whole thing as one
amount of water, but it doesn’t phys-
ically mingle. Actual water coming
out of the ground (in the Jackpot area)
goes south, not north,” Parrott said.
He argued that water was never
found underground in the Berger area
until irrigation began, the source of
water in the area is seepage from the
Twin Falls Canal Co. system and it
will be affected by Cedar Ridge’s ad-
ditional use.
“Everyone downstream, under-
ground, is effectively going to be dried
up,” Parrott said.
Wildman pointed out signiicant
and conlicting evidence on the issue
in the record but ruled Director Spack-
man found the weight of the evidence
establishes that ground water in the
two areas is hydraulically connected
and that inding is supported by sub-
stantial evidence.
Wildman also said substantial ev-
idence supports Spackman’s inding
that groundwater levels in the Berger
area are stable and that the proposed
transfer will not result in unreasonable
drawdown levels.
Earlier inding
Parrott argued that a decision by an
IDWR hearing oficer in March 2015
supported a different conclusion and
restricted the dairy’s use of the water to
May 1 through Sept. 30 and advanced
the 1970 priority date of the water right
to the date of the transfer approval.
Hearing Oficer James Cefalo said
there was not enough information to
determine the magnitude of impact to
nearby domestic wells if the water was
diverted during non-irrigation season.
He also noted the distance between
the existing point of diversion and pro-
posed points of diversion and the need
to protect existing water rights in the
Berger area in the event of a water right
administration.
Parrott argued Cefalo’s decision
should be reinstated.
But Wildman upheld the water di-
rector’s statutory authority to approve
the transfer under the conditions he saw
it, which in this case did not limit the
season of use or advance the priority
date. In addition, the court can only af-
irm or set aside the inal order and re-
mand it back to the director for further
proceedings; it can’t reinstate the hear-
ing oficer’s earlier decision, he said.
Retaining the 1970 priority date is
particularly troublesome because it will
limit the recourse for water-right hold-
ers in the area who will be junior to that
1970 right, Parrott said.
Late in the case, Parrott argued that
the transfer should be invalidated on
the grounds that the water-right holder
applying for the transfer hadn’t used the
water for the previous ive years, which
constituted forfeiture of the right.
But that issue was not raised by any
of the protesters or in any of the pro-
ceedings, and the court can’t consider
substantive issues raised for the irst
time on appeal, Wildman said.
The transfer is a political decision
– “use up all the water and turn it into
taxes.” It deies common sense, leaving
citizens to pay for the dairy’s prosperi-
ty, Parrott said.
Parrott said he’ll continue the ight
but isn’t sure if the next step is to appeal
Wildman’s decision or take the case to
the Idaho Supreme Court.
For the history of the case: https://
www.idwr.idaho.gov/legal-actions/
district-court-actions/Parrott-v-ID-
WR.html
Washington targets wolves to stop depredations
Livestock losses
mount in
Ferry County
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Washington Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife will
kill wolves for the third time
since the animals began re-
colonizing the state, targeting
a pack that has killed at least
four calves and a cow this
summer in Ferry County.
WDFW Director Jim
Unsworth authorized lethal
removal Aug. 3 after depart-
ment investigators that day
conirmed that a calf found
dead northeast of Republic
had been killed by wolves in
the Profanity Peak pack.
Later that day, investi-
gators found another dead
calf and determined it as the
pack’s ifth victim.
Previously, in July, WDFW
conirmed the pack had killed
two calves and a cow. Ac-
Courtesy of USFWS, William Campbell
The Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife has authorized
the killing of wolves from the
Profanity Peak pack because of
incidents of livestock depredation.
cording to department policy,
WDFW considers lethal re-
moval after four depredations
in one year by a pack.
WDFW has classiied
three other livestock deaths
in the area as “probable” dep-
redations by the pack. Those
incidents did not count toward
the threshold that triggers le-
thal removal.
WDFW wolf policy co-
ordinator Donny Martorello
said the department planned
to remove part of the pack and
has a speciic number in mind,
though the number won’t be
disclosed until WDFW com-
pletes the operation, he said.
In 2014, the department
announced it planned to re-
move up to four wolves from
the Huckleberry pack in Ste-
vens County and faced criti-
cism for ending the operation
after shooting one wolf.
The Profanity Peak wolf
pack has six adults and ive
pups, according to WDFW.
WDFW oficials said that
wolves could be trapped, or
shot from the ground or a he-
licopter.
Measures such as increas-
ing human presence around
the herd have failed to stop
the attacks and depredations
would be likely to continue,
according to WDFW.
“I’m disappointed there
was another depredation, but
happy to see the department
is ready to step in,” Washing-
ton Cattlemen’s Association
Executive Vice President Jack
Field said.
Stevens County rancher
Scott Nielsen, vice president
of the Cattle Producers of
Washington, said the con-
irmed depredations proba-
bly are only a portion of the
number of cattle killed by the
pack.
He said that if WDFW had
initiated lethal removal soon-
er, fewer wolves would have
to be shot to break the cycle
of depredations.
“They’ve let it go on way
too long. If they mess around
with one or two wolves, the
pack will continue killing
cows,” Nielsen said. “If they
had acted sooner, it would
take less to stop that feeding
habit.”
Besides the one wolf in the
Huckleberry pack in 2014,
seven wolves from the Wedge
pack were shot in 2012.
In those cases, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s
Wildlife Services assisted
WDFW. Since then, a feder-
al judge has ruled the federal
agency can’t help Washington
lethally remove wolves with-
out doing a more thorough
study of the environmental
impacts.
“We have the capacity to
do it, and we’ll be carrying it
out,” Martorello said.
Martorello said the de-
partment planned to give at
least weekly updates on the
operation, but does not plan
to provide daily updates. The
department says limited up-
dates are for the safety of its
staff, ranchers and the public.
WDFW counted 90 wolves
in the state at the end of 2015.
The wolves, including the
Profanity Peak pack, are
mostly concentrated in the
northeastern corner of the
state.
Conservation groups said
they were disappointed that
Washington wildlife man-
agers plan to kill wolves,
but some environmentalists
agreed that reaction was rel-
atively muted compared to
previous times the state has
culled a pack to stop attacks
on livestock.
CME makes
changes to
cattle futures
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The CME Group has an-
nounced changes to live cat-
tle futures aimed at improv-
ing the transparency of cash
markets.
The changes include a
seasonal price discount at
the Worthing, S.D., delivery
location, revised grading and
quality speciications and the
delayed listing of additional
contracts.
The changes are a result of
CME’s internal analyses, an
independent study by Infor-
ma Economics and feedback
from the cattle industry, said
Dave Lehman, CME man-
aging director of commodity
research and product devel-
opment.
A seasonal discount of
$1.50 per hundredweight
will be applied to live cattle
offered at Worthing for the
October contract only. The
discount will ensure the fu-
tures contract delivery terms
are relective of the underly-
ing cash market and ensure
Commodities Futures Trad-
ing Commission compliance,
Lehman said.
“CFTC rules require ex-
changes specify delivery dif-
ferentials relective of com-
monly observed cash-price
differentials,” he said.
CME’s own analysis, con-
irmed by the Informa study,
shows cash prices in the Io-
wa-Minnesota region are sig-
niicantly lower than CME’s
other delivery territories in
the fall months. The Octo-
ber discount will mirror the
underlying cash market, he
said.
Cattle production has
grown faster than processing
capacity in the region, and
more cattle move to markets
in the fall. Drought in the
Southern Plains and avail-
ability of corn and distillers
grains moved production
north, he said.
The number of slaughter
cattle in the fall exceeds pro-
cessing capacity, and lower
prices in the cash market take
into consideration the addi-
tional freight cost to ship cat-
tle to slaughter, he said.
Several state cattlemen’s
associations have raised
concerns that the discount
would negatively affect
cash-negotiated trade in the
Upper Midwest, penalizing
producers in the region.
Lehman said he thinks
the discount is misunder-
stood.
“All it’s intended to do
is reflect price levels in the
cash market. It will not af-
fect that cash price,” which
is determined by supply and
demand factors, he said.
And it will only impact
a small percentage of the
market. CME contract de-
liveries in October 2015
represented about 4,500 to
4,700 head, compared with
about 300,000 head of total
marketings in the region, he
said.
CME’s analysis, as well
as the Informa study, found
no statistical difference in
prices at CME’s 13 cattle
delivery points except that
they were higher in October
in 12 locations relative to
the Iowa-Minnesota region,
the only price series avail-
able in the Worthing area,
he said.
“The data clearly told
us and confirmed our own
analysis this area should be
discounted in October,” he
said.
The new discount will be
effective with the August
2017 contract, which will
be listed for trading on Aug.
22, 2016.
CME is also updating its
contract quality grade for
both live and carcass deliv-
eries to 60 percent choice
and 40 percent select from
55 percent and 45 percent,
respectively. The change is
based on increasing quality
grades across major fed-cat-
tle regions and industry
feedback.
It will also delay listing
any contract months beyond
October 2017 as it contin-
ues to work with industry
on how cash markets can be
made more robust and trans-
parent, Lehman said.