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4 CapitalPress.com April 7, 2017 Water supply in SW Idaho so good that focus switches to fl ood prevention By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — Southwestern Idaho irrigators don’t have to worry about whether they will have an adequate water supply this year. Basins in the region re- ceived so much snow this winter that water managers are running rivers at maxi- mum levels to prevent flood- ing. As a result, the Boise River has been flowing at near-record levels. That has resulted in mi- nor flooding in areas and even the removal of a bridge. Boise residents are being warned not to get too close to the raging river. The river is flowing at around 8,000 cubic feet per second at the Glenwood Bridge, an official U.S. Geo- logical Survey measuring Sean Ellis/Capital Press File The Boise River fl ows through Boise, Idaho, last June. Water man- agers have increased the river’s fl ow this spring to in an attempt to prevent fl ooding. site. That’s above the medi- an flow of 477 cubic feet per second for this time of the year. “That river is full, full, full,” said Mark Zirschky, manager of Pioneer Irriga- tion District, which provides water to 5,800 patrons. “It’s probably the worst I’ve seen it on the river in 20 years.” The river is over-topping PID structures and running over the top of head gates, Zirschky said. The U.S. Bureau of Rec- lamation estimates that run- off from the Boise River Basin will be 153 percent of average this year. There was enough snow in the basin to fill the sys- tem’s reservoirs several times, said Greg Curtis, water superintendent for Nampa-Meridian Irrigation District, which supplies irri- gation water to 69,000 acres. The Boise River system’s three reservoirs provide wa- ter to more than 300,000 ir- rigated acres. “We should have a very good water year,” said Cur- tis, who said he has not seen this type of plentiful water year during his 20 years with the district. This year’s plentiful wa- ter supply also bodes well for 2018 because there should be plenty of water left in area reservoirs at the end of the 2017 season, said Brian Sauer, water opera- tions manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s middle Snake River field of- fice. “The carryover should be really good this year,” he said. Irrigators who get their water from the Payette River and Weiser River basins also have a good water supply outlook this year. “It’s looking like one of the best water years we’ve had in a long time,” said Brandi Horton, watermaster for the Weiser River sys- tem, which provides water for about 55,000 irrigated acres. “I have high hopes of this being a pretty darn good season.” There is also plenty of water in the Payette Riv- er system, which provides water for 160,000 irrigated acres. Like their counter- parts on the Boise system, Payette water managers are focused on trying to prevent flooding. The Payette River is at its maximum level, just below flood stage, and there has been some minor flooding in areas. “We’re having a hard time getting water down the river as gracefully as we would like to,” said Payette River system watermaster Ron Shurtleff. “It’s look- ing pretty plush for us this year.” Farmer claims processing facility Managers: Some reservoirs buyout; Simplot calls it a ‘sham’ fi lling too fast for comfort Capital Press A large-scale Northwest farmer claims in a new lawsuit to have bought out full owner- ship of a Washington process- ing facility from his partner, the J.R. Simplot Co. Simplot, however, char- acterizes the transaction as “nothing more than a sham” that’s part of a deliberate scheme of mismanagement by farmer Frank Tiegs. The allegations are part of a legal battle between Tiegs and Simplot over the operations of Gem State Processing in Hey- burn, Idaho, and Pasco Pro- cessing in Pasco, Wash., both of which they own jointly. Capital Press KETCHUM, Idaho — State water managers admit they’re growing uneasy about conditions in a few reservoirs, which have been fi lling faster than fl ows can be released. Ongoing challenges with Magic Reservoir, located on the Big Wood River between Ketchum and Twin Falls, Little Wood Reservoir near Carey and on the main stem of the Snake River in Madi- son County provide the latest examples of Idaho irrigators receiving too much of a good thing following an exceeding- ly wet winter. Magic Reservoir has fi lled, and water has been fl owing uncontrolled over the spill- way. Blaine County Sheriff Steve Harkins said fl ows into the reservoir surged in late March and early April due to rain and hot weather, fl ooding a 150-yard stretch of Magic Road 3 feet deep in water. “We had a vehicle swept off the road and the driver had to be rescued,” Harkins said, adding water levels have dropped since then due to cooler weather. But Harkins warns peak runoff from the Wood River Dairy Industry SPECIAL SECTION June 2 ND , 2017 Our annual Dairy Special Section spotlights dairy operations and operators in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. It features an in depth look at the situations and successes - needs and concerns of this dynamic industry. To reach our print and online readers, contact your sales representative or call 1-800-882-6789. Courtesy of Michael Flolo Water rushes over the spillway at Magic Reservoir near Ketchum on April 1. Water managers in Idaho are becoming concerned about the potential for fl ooding in rapidly fi lling runoff in some of the area’s reservoirs. Basin still lies ahead, and the fl ooding is far from over. Corey Loveland, Bureau of Reclamation water oper- ations manager, said Little Wood Reservoir, which holds 30,000 acre-feet, was drained until it bottomed out at 3,500 acre-feet on March 15. “We’ve been fi lling up the Little Wood since then, but we’ve maximized our discharge out of the Little Wood,” Loveland said. Loveland said reservoir gains have been greater than expected, as BOR had an- ticipated irrigators would be demanding water by now. The agency is still awaiting the start of irrigation demand, Loveland said. He said BOR isn’t frantic about the situa- tion and is confi dent the dam is structurally sound. “We’ll be OK if the snow comes off normally, but if there’s a rain-on-snow event or if it really warms up, we could be in trouble there,” LEGAL Ad space reservation is by Friday, May 5 th . (503) 364-4798 (800) 882-6789 Fax: (503) 364-2692 or (503) 370-4383 www.capitalpress.com ROP-14-4-2/#13 ROP-40-42-4/#17 PO Box 2048 • Salem, OR 97308 PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 98 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 4/14/2017. The sale will be held at 10:00 am by PARKING ENFORCEMENT SERVICES 12700 SW HALL BLVD. #D TIGARD, OR 2005 DODGE 2500 VAN VIN=WD0PD744855808154 Amount due on lien $1317.00 Reputed owner(s) TIMOFEY EROFEEFF legal-13-2-1/#4 Area in detail SAWTOOTH NATIONAL RECREATION AREA IDAHO NATIONAL FOREST 75 Ketchum Sun Valley SAWTOOTH NATIONAL FOREST Little Wood River Dam R. in Capital Press’ 33 RD Annual By JOHN O’CONNELL Wo o d Celebrate June Dairy Month each infuse the processing plant with $3 million in capital to ensure it complied with loan covenants. According to Tiegs, the deadlock triggered “buyout” provisions entitling him to purchase Pasco Processing for a pre-arranged price based on its fi nancial performance. Because that price was a “negative number,” Tiegs was “not required to tender cash or other available funds” for Simplot’s shares, the com- plaint said. Simplot has alleged this an “attempted conversion” that’s “the latest act in a pattern of willful, reckless and grossly negligent misconduct.” The deadlock was manu- factured by Tiegs to take over Pasco Processing “at an arti- fi cially low price — resulting from a devaluation caused by defendants’ bad acts,” accord- ing to Simplot. Simplot argues that Tiegs could not actually force the sale in this manner but has nonetheless claimed to be the sole owner of Pasco Process- ing to its employees and lend- er. The company has asked a federal judge to either dismiss Tiegs’ lawsuit or merge it with the previous case. 20 20 Carey Magic 46 Reservoir o od R. By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Simplot fi led a lawsuit last year accusing Tiegs of running the processing facilities into the ground fi nancially to ben- efi t his own farming affi liates. The complaint claimed that Tiegs’ farm companies sold excessive amounts of inferi- or-quality crops to the pro- cessing plants at above-market prices, resulting in millions of dollars in losses. Simplot has asked a federal judge to appoint a receiver to take over management of the processing companies while Tiegs has requested the case be thrown out. Tiegs has now fi led a law- suit asking another federal judge to declare that he’s pur- chased Simplot’s half of Pasco Processing — including its National Frozen Foods subsid- iary — as permitted under an operating agreement between the partners. The complaint alleges the two companies reached a deadlock about whether to Big Gooding W New lawsuit fi led in dispute between Frank Tiegs, J.R. Simplot 26 24 86 75 N 10 miles Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Loveland said. “It’s not in the forecast.” Bob Simpson, assistant dam operator with the Lit- tle Wood Irrigation District, said the dam has been releas- ing the maximum amount of water — roughly 950 second-feet — since Feb. 1. Simpson said the surround- ing mountains still have 160 percent of their usual snow- pack for the date — about 20 percent more than during 2006, which was the most re- cent wet year in the area. “It’s fi lling a lot faster than I’d like to see,” Simpson said. Flooding could impact at least 500 acres of crops downstream, he said. Jim Rindfl eisch, general manager of Big Lost Riv- er Irrigation District, said Mackay Reservoir is about 44 percent full, and he’s been seeking to balance the risk of fl ooding with the possi- bility of releasing too much storage. LEGAL 14-7/#6 SECRETARY OF STATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING Oregon Department of Agriculture, Food Safety & Animal Health Programs, Administrative Rules Chapter #603, Sue Gooch, Rules Coordinator (503) 986-4583. Amend: OAR 603-052-1320. RULE SUMMARY: The Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, is currently still listed on the approved list, but is not allowed for import and release to allow biogeo- graphical research related to determining why wild mon- arch populations in Oregon are declining. In order to avoid confusion in the per- mitting process, we recom- mend removing the Mon- arch butterfly from the approved list. Last day for public comment is April 15, 2017. 14-1/#4
