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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
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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,”
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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