A Parched Idaho is in Our Future

I believe the most underreported story in Idaho is the future of our water supply. This isn’t one of those cases where the government is squelching the news. Aside from growers and a handful of people high and dry in new developments, the public doesn’t show much interest. As long as the water pours when you turn on the tap, why worry?

News media coverage reflects public apathy.

There was some coverage of the annual fall water supply meeting in Boise. It must have been a slow day for news on Tuesday!

The Capital Press explains the short-term outlook is good. There’s water in the reservoirs, however. None of this really addresses the long term.

This winter is expected to be drier than average. That doesn’t bode well for spring runoff. Some will blame man-made climate change. It could also be fluctuation in weather patterns that we’ve seen throughout planetary history. The latter would take the politics out of the equation.

Here’s the real challenge. Assuming the state’s population could double over thirty years (and I admit that projection may be on the high end), where are we going to get the water for four million people to shower?

We may not like sprawl, but in a part of the country where we (supposedly) respect liberty, how do you bring it to an end? Maybe people will pack up and leave. One solution. The other is to pump water to the west from the east. Pricey, but engineers tell me it's possible.