Idaho Water Resource Board tours Lemhi River area fish-enhancement projects

The board has partnered with the Idaho Governor’s Office of Species Conservation, among other agencies, to complete projects that restore water to the creeks to improve fish habitat for imperiled fish runs while protecting the local agricultural community, said Amy Cassel, coordinator of the Water Transactions Program for the board, in a board news release.

The Water Transactions Program also supports Idaho’s interest in improving flow conditions for chinook salmon and steelhead, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act, the release said.

Projects often involve changing the water diversion location from small tributary creeks to the larger Lemhi River, while also covering the costs of irrigation pumping, Cassel explained during the tour.

On Big Timber Creek, the board entered into 20-year contracts with two irrigators to move their points of diversion to restore 5.9 cubic feet per second of flow into the creek, and to allow fish to move through the previously de-watered section of the creek to reach spawning and rearing habitat upstream, Cassel said. The contracts include payment of new pumping costs, accomplished with funding from the BPA.

On Bohannon Creek, the board worked with two water users to change their points of diversion from Bohannon Creek to the Lemhi River under a 20-year contract that will sustain a flow of 5.58 cfs in the creek to benefit steelhead and chinook salmon. The board’s portion of the project was also funded by the BPA, Cassel said.

“For over 100 years, 150 years, there was no water in Big Timber Creek at this time of year,” said Leadore rancher Merrill Beyeler, who participated in the tour. “As ranchers, we wanted to look at some ways to reconnect these tributaries to the main stem of the Lemhi River. I think that was a great win not only for ranching but for our environment. It’s one of those things that makes you smile inside.”

The board has also worked with the BPA and Office of Species Conservation to fund multiple stream-connect projects over the last decade. But Cassel said the low-hanging fruit has been picked, and future projects will be more complex and expensive.

Jeff Deluccia of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game commended the board for being a great partner in fish conservation in the Upper Salmon River Basin. “The board’s Water Transactions program has been vital in restoring fish habitat in the Lemhi River Basin,” he said. “Many of these projects are complex with multiple partners playing an important role. We really appreciate your proactive work and your partnership in these in fish-conservation projects.”

In a related matter, the board heard from members of the Lemhi Irrigation District regarding the importance of maintaining a longstanding practice of diverting high-water in the springtime to subirrigate pasturelands along the course of the Lemhi River to benefit surface water levels in the Lemhi River, fisheries and pasturelands, officials said.

In other action, the board voted to approve $232,930 in flood-management grants to four different entities statewide, as recommended by the board’s Finance Committee. Applicants were required to provide at least a 50 percent match and begin work by November.