Seminar Abstract
Don Reading - Tuesday, May 13
Snake River Water Transfers
Hydrologists at the University of Idaho, working in Idaho Falls in collaboration
with IDWR, have developed a model of Snake hydrology that is capable
of estimating impacts on various reaches of a change in groundwater pumping
at any point in the aquifer. IDWR is using this model as the basis for
policy on water rights transfers between users within a particular sector
of the aquifer or between sectors. This covers changes in use as well
as location. The policy, effected through the model, calculates the costs
required to be borne by the new user, by year, to mitigate third party
effects from the transfer. That is, how much of the transferred right
must be left in the aquifer to avoid third party effects. This mechanism
and policy, in conjunction with ownership rights, make possible a water
market in southern Idaho. This seminar will lay out the concept, the policy,
and utilize the model to calculate several examples of rights transfer.