SODA SPRINGS — A hot dry summer set the stage for a meeting of the Idaho Department of Water Resources Board in Soda Springs last week. Contention over the denial of a permit to build a new dam on the Bear River surfaced quickly.

    Board members Leonard Beck, Peter Van Der Meulen, Jeff Raybold and chairman Terry T. Uhling held the meeting to take testimony on the IDWR’s proposed revisions to the state water plan.

    Clair Bosen, president of the Twin Lakes Canal Company, said the meeting would have drawn more participation if there had been more notice. Bosen also asked what kind of priority the board was putting on the conservation of water as well as the storage of unallocated water supplies.

    Beck assured Bosen that he felt the Board understood the importance of dams to water supplies.

    “We are very aware of the need for water in the state of Idaho, and any ways possible to achieve that goal is in our best interest,” said Beck.

     Bosen, a Preston resident, later said that roughly half of the shareholders in the canal company are out of water and the rest will possibly be out by the end of the month. To help that predicament in future years, Bosen said his company has applied for a permit to build a dam in the Bear River Narrows 4.5 miles below the existing PacificCorp dam on the Bear River.

    That process has been in the works for seven years, according to Bosen.

    He said the permit was denied recently based on some factual errors involving public use and the effects on the public.

    “When it comes down to water, which is more important, the saving of it, the storing of it or the public interest?” Bosen asked.

     Beck explained to Bosen that there is a definite separation between the board and the Department of Water Resources.

    “You are right, we encouraged you to move forward, but for us to speak on behalf of the Department of Water Resources, that is not going to happen,” Beck said.

    According to Bosen, Oneida, Franklin and Bear Lake counties are suffering from severe water shortages and a new dam would help.

    “In the winter there is unallocated water going out of state (via the Bear River) and that is the water that we’ve asked to store,” he told the board.

    The first water plan was adopted by the state in 1976 with the current plan set in place in 1996. According to a document provided to those attending, “The Plan continues to evolve and provides a framework for the adoption and implementation of policies, programs and projects that develop, utilize, conserve, and protect the state’s water supplies.”

     The public can submit comments on the proposed revisions until Sept. 21. The board will then submit it’s final draft on the proposed revisions to the Idaho Legislature for approval.

    Lava Hot Springs resident Kirk Irick questioned board members about the plan and revisions with concerns about future regulation. Clive Strong, deputy Idaho Attorney General, said the plan would not be regulatory in nature, but provide guidelines for the state’s water use.

    Comments on the Proposed Revisions can be submitted  via email to SWP@idwr.idaho.gov or via mail to IWRD, Attn: SWP, P.O. Box 83720-0098, Boise, Id. 83720-0098. Additionally comments can be made at any of the remaining public meetings to be held across the state. The Water Plan and the Proposed Revisions can be viewed at: http://www.idwr.idaho.gov/waterboard/WaterPlanning/StateWaterPlanning/State_Planning.htm.