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CapitalPress.com
February 3, 2017
Excess electricity aids aquifer recharge
By DIANNA TROYER
For the Capital Press
BURLEY, Idaho — South-
west Irrigation District near
Burley, Idaho, is finishing
a winterization project that
will enable year-round re-
charge of the Eastern Snake
Plain Aquifer.
A $600,000 grant from
the Idaho Department of
Water Resources is enabling
the district in southeastern
Idaho to double its pipeline
system from the Snake River
at the Milner Pool to injec-
tion wells south of the river,
winterize pump stations and
upgrade them to turn on and
off as needed.
“We plan to have the proj-
ect done by March 1,” says
hydrologist Brian Higgs,
District 140 watermaster and
owner of Water Well Consul-
tants.
The winterization project
came about after the Bonne-
ville Power Administration
and United Electric Co-op,
which provide electricity to
the district, launched a suc-
cessful pilot program in the
spring of 2012.
BPA offered a reduced
electrical rate to pump water
Dianna Troyer/For the Capital Press
Hydrologist Brian Higgs is optimistic about an aquifer recharge
project involving the Southwest Irrigation District near Burley, Ida-
ho. Its system is being winterized so recharge efforts can continue
year-round.
to recharge the aquifer be-
cause it relieved the admin-
istration of an oversupply
of electricity, especially at
night, when power demand
declines.
The administration must
balance electrical generation
with demand to keep its sys-
tem from being overloaded.
At times, BPA faces an
oversupply of electricity, es-
pecially in spring when high
winds generate power at
turbines and melting winter
snowpack causes high river
flows. Also during spring,
electrical demand tends to
decline before the air con-
ditioning and irrigation sea-
sons begin.
With the recent upgrades,
the district’s system will
have flexibility and be able
to increase pumping during
the hours of light electrical
demand and decrease pump-
ing during hours of heavi-
er electrical usage on the
grid.
The contract with BPA
for the 1.8 megawatt project
was renewed for four years.
“(The district) pumped an
average of 1,900 acre-feet of
recharge water annually on
the old system,” says Higgs.
“The district’s new pipe-
line will operate throughout
the winter and pump more
than 10,000 acre-feet to in-
jection wells located more
than 10 miles south of the
river.”
The demonstration proj-
ect provided numerous ben-
efits and could be a model
elsewhere, says Higgs.
“It helped us maintain
our agreement with the
Surface Water Coalition,”
says Higgs. “Without it, we
would have likely faced seri-
ous curtailments. In some lo-
cations, we’re in good shape,
but other areas at a longer
distance from the river are
still suffering.”
The Idaho Department of
Water Resources estimates
the Eastern Snake Plain
Aquifer has been losing
about 216,000 acre-feet an-
nually from aquifer storage
since the 1950s, resulting in
declining ground water lev-
els and spring flows. The de-
partment’s State Water Plan
set a goal of having managed
recharge averaging 250,000
acre-feet annually.
The SWID program,
along with other major re-
charge projects at Lake
Walcott and the Raft River
Valley and to the north near
Idaho Falls, will help the de-
partment eventually reach its
goal.
“The average recharge
for the past few years has
been about 80,000 acre-
feet,” says Higgs. “Eighty
percent of that has occurred
below American Falls Reser-
voir. However, the new Egin
Bench recharge project to
the north in Fremont Coun-
ty is operational. Recharge
by the IWRB should top
150,000 for 2017.”
Higgs says SWID mem-
bers look forward to con-
tinuing the recharge efforts
near Burley.
“Next winter, we’ll be
able to run without worry-
ing about freeze-ups,” says
Higgs.
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