December 23, 2016
CapitalPress.com
7
IGWA announces contract New administration could
to buy Rangen trout farm mean end of WOTUS rule
By JOHN O’CONNELL
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press File
Raceways for fi sh are shown at the Rangen trout farm at Hager-
man, Idaho.
30
MALAD
GORGE
STATE
PARK
84
Hagerman,
Idaho
Sna
ke
BILLINGSLEY
CREEK WILDLIFE
MANAGEMENT
er
Riv
g
sley
Hagerman
Creek
TWIN FALLS, Idaho —
Offi cials of Idaho Ground Wa-
ter Appropriators Inc. say they
have a contract to purchase the
Rangen trout farm in Hager-
man.
The purchase would put to
rest a long-running water bat-
tle with Rangen while provid-
ing groundwater irrigators a
pathway toward resolving oth-
er water confl icts in the valley.
IGWA attorney T.J. Budge
said the sale hasn’t closed, as
the parties are still “working
through the due diligence.”
The purchase price is confi -
dential, Budge said.
Budge said groundwater
districts believe the terms are
fair and in both parties’ best in-
terests and that the sale should
“further protect the agricultur-
al economy.”
“We think it’s a good solu-
tion,” Budge said. “It’s un-
fortunate the same solution
couldn’t have been reached
years ago, but that’s how it
works.”
Rangen attorney Justin
May did not return calls for
comment.
The property includes
about 60 acres, three homes,
raceways, a fi sh hatch house
and greenhouse and a research
building.
In 2000, several spring us-
ers started discussions with the
state about declining spring
fl ows. Rangen and other us-
ers fi led delivery calls against
junior groundwater users
after the discussions failed.
Rangen’s call was deemed
futile due to modeling uncer-
tainty, until the state updated
its groundwater model a few
years ago.
To deliver up to 9.1 cubic
feet per second of spring water
owed to Rangen, IGWA built
a $4 million, 1.8-mile pipeline
in the winter of 2014 from the
nearby Magic Springs hatchery
Capital Press
HAGERMAN WILDLIFE
MANAGEMENT AREA 30
N
Approximate site of
Rangen Fish Farm
1 mile
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
to Rangen’s facility on Billing-
sley Creek. IGWA purchased
the Aqua Life hatchery from
the state to offer Magic Springs
in exchange for the water.
The pipeline has been oper-
ating ever since, but the Idaho
Supreme Court ruled in Feb-
ruary that Rangen didn’t have
a proper water right to use 12
cfs it had been diverting from
the so-called Bridge Diver-
sion of Billingsley Creek and
that IGWA, which fi led for the
right after making the discov-
ery, had a valid claim to the
water.
Before announcing plans
to buy Rangen, IGWA had
considered building a second,
shorter pipeline to meet its mit-
igation with Bridge Diversion
water.
Budge said the existing
pipeline may still be used to de-
liver water to Buckeye Farms, a
hunting club that has a declin-
ing senior water right farther
downstream on Billingsley
Creek and has been in negotia-
tions with IGWA to avert a call.
IGWA will also likely build
a nearly half-mile extension
from its pipeline to access the
sandy ponds, which have sup-
plied mitigation water via an-
other pipeline to three farms
with senior water rights, using
operational spills from the
Northside Canal.
Budge explained effi cien-
cy improvements within the
canal system have reduced
operational spills, and the
pipeline could provide sup-
plemental water during peak
summer demand.
IGWA Executive Direc-
tor Lynn Tominaga estimat-
ed the cost of extending the
pipeline to the sandy ponds
at $250,000 to $300,000. He
said the cost of operating the
current pipeline to Rangen is
about $100,000 per year.
Tominaga said IGWA has
contacted University of Ida-
ho, Idaho Department of Fish
and Game and others who
may be interested in buying
or leasing Rangen, with a wa-
ter right subordinated to pro-
tect groundwater irrigation.
NAMPA, Idaho — The
Trump administration could
boost agricultural water us-
ers by tossing out the newly
rewritten Waters of the U.S.
rule, the head of the Ida-
ho Water Users Association
says.
IWUA Executive Direc-
tor Norm Semanko said wa-
ter users are challenged by a
seemingly never-ending pro-
cession of new rules but he
is hopeful that could change
under President-elect Donald
Trump’s administration.
The list of regulations wa-
ter users have to deal with
“just seems to get worse ev-
ery year,” Semanko said Dec.
15 during the Treasure Valley
Irrigation Conference.
“We don’t know what (a
Trump administration) por-
tends for the future but hope-
fully some things will cut our
way,” he said.
Semanko said he’s hope-
ful the new administration
will end the Environmental
Protection Agency and U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
rule on the Waters of the
U.S., which is now tied up in
court.
Farm, ranch and water
user groups worry the rule
could greatly expand the fed-
eral government’s authority
over waters and adjacent land
not currently subject to regu-
lation under the Clean Water
Act.
Semanko pointed out that
Trump has said he would
eliminate the rule. His pick to
head the EPA, Oklahoma At-
torney General Scott Pruitt,
has fi led a legal challenge
against it.
Trump “thinks it’s expan-
sive and doesn’t make sense,
which most of us in the water
world agree with,” Semanko
said.
He told members of Ida-
ho’s irrigation communi-
ty to look for the new ad-
ministration to voluntarily
pull the rule, which means
it would no longer be in
effect.
But it’s not enough to just
get rid of the rule because the
old WOTUS rule is vague at
best, he said.
“We need a new rule and
this (new) administration can
do that,” he said. “It won’t
be enough just to get rid of
WOTUS. It will need to be
replaced.”
Semanko said the Trump
administration might also
provide some relief from the
effects the Endangered Spe-
cies Act has on water users,
including the impact listed
fi sh species have on water in
California as well as the oper-
ation of the Columbia-Snake
River system.
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ROP-50-4-1/#13
WSDA issues fi ne for pesticide drift hitting motorist
and the penalties became fi nal
The driver suffered eye
State confirms
Nov. 28.
and breathing troubles, and
According to WSDA, the the state Department of Health
mild illness
fi ne and suspension stemmed confi rmed the man had a mild
Capital Press
A pesticide applicator
was fi ned $450 and had his
license suspended for seven
days for a drift incident that
sickened a man driving past
a Yakima County apple or-
chard, according to the Wash-
ington State Department of
Agriculture.
Juan M. Romero of Tieton
waived his right to a hearing,
from a pesticide application
March 24 at an orchard 2.5
miles east of Tieton owned by
Z&O LLC. Romero was not
at the scene, but a man work-
ing under his supervision was
applying the insecticide.
A motorist reported that
spray coming from the second
or third row of trees hit his
truck. The driver cleared the
windshield with wipers and
reported that the cab smelled
like aspirin.
pesticide-related illness.
A WSDA investigator said
the second row was about 32
feet from the road.
Samples taken from the
truck tested positive for pes-
ticide residue, according to
WSDA.
Efforts to reach Romero
were unsuccessful.
So far this year, WSDA has
issued 13 penalties related to
handling or applying pesti-
cides.
52-1/#14
By DON JENKINS
52-4/#7