Idaho to Require Water Use Monitors on Some Wells

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho officials are requiring well users pumping water from a large aquifer to install measuring devices to better monitor their water usage.

The Capital Press reports that the Idaho Department of Water Resources says the devices must be installed by 2018 on wells drawing from the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. Idaho Ground Water Appropriators, Inc., Executive Director Lynn Tominaga estimates the cost of the equipment and installation will be about $5,400 per well.

A grant from the Bureau of Reclamation will help growers pay for it. Tominaga says the flow meters will give growers more control over how they manage the water for their crops. Small wells and domestic or stock water wells are exempt from the order.