Who we are

The Middle Snake Regional Water Resource Commission was formed by the County Commissioners of Cassia, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln and Twin Falls counties in 1992 through the adoption, by the counties, of the regional Coordinated Water Resource Management Plan. When formed, it was the only such commission in the state. Each county appoints two members to the commission who serve 4 year terms of office.

The Commission’s Executive Committee consists of one County Commissioner from each member county. An Executive Director is appointed by the Executive Committee and serves at their pleasure. The Executive Committee is also responsible for approving an annual budget for the Commission. The annual budget is funded by the member counties. The Commission acts under the guidelines established in its Authorization Document established in 1993 and revised in 2006.​
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What We Do

The Middle Snake Regional Water Resource Commission was established to give the County Commissioners of its member counties along with the general public a voice in water quality, quantity and economic issues impacting the region. It is a local voice dealing with state and federal regulatory issues as they may impact the region’s economy and its customs and culture.

The duties of the Commission are to:

• Gather information on an on-going basis regarding the quality of water resources in the Member Counties and establish baseline data for monitoring water quality.

• Act as focal point for issues, concerns, uses and education regarding all water resources, surface and underground, in the Member Counties and, in connection therewith, provide a forum for the public to have input on such issues and to obtain information and educational services with regard to the same.

• Work with governmental entities at all levels, water user groups, private parties, and the general public to coordinate and facilitate the development of water study, management, protection or enhancement plans in and for the region.

• Provide a forum for local, state and federal agencies to coordinate activities related to the study, management, protections and enhancement of water.

• Provide information and recommendations to local Planning and Zoning Commissions and other local governmental entities with respect to ordinances that may be necessary and proper to facilitate the study, management, protection and enhancement of water resources within the Member Counties.

• Gather coordinate and disseminate information regarding water resource issues in the Member Counties to and for the benefit of governmental, business and private parties.

• Take additional actions, as necessary, to facilitate the Plan and the accomplishment of its objectives.

• Continually review the Coordinated Water Resource Management Plan and update the plan when necessary.​
  

Our History

The Middle Snake Regional Water Resource Commission was established through the efforts of its predecessor, the Middle Snake Study Group. The study group was formed by the county commissioners of Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln and Twin Falls counties in 1989 in an attempt to do something about the deteriorating condition of the Snake River between the Milner and Bliss dams.

The county commissioners were made aware of the problem with the Middle Snake by residents who lived near the river. The river was called by some, a weed choked shadow of its former self. In actuality, however, the condition of the river was only a symptom of a much larger problem in the entire Middle Snake watershed. The study group was made up of county commissioners, planning and zoning member and others from the four counties. Also involved were representatives from many state and federal agencies. The purpose of the study group was to better understand the problems with the watershed and develop and implement a plan to correct the situation. While working on the plan the commissioners, with the help of Congressman Richard Stalling of Idaho convinced the EPA to designate this stretch of the river as Water Quality Limited. This was the first stretch of river in Idaho to be so designated. The designation meant the EPA had to formulate a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for the river and thereby limit the amount nutrients and phosphorus that could be discharged to the river by point source dischargers. This action by the study group led to the formation of the first Water Shed Advisory Group (WAG) in Idaho by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. The purpose of the WAG was to bring point source dischargers and other water users together to address and implement the TMDL. Local canal companies, though not designated as point source dischargers, stepped up to the plate and initiated a costly process of cleaning or eliminating their return flows to the river. This stretch of the river had previously been written off as a working river, but the study group proved the river was essential to the people of the region and could be both a working river and a source for recreational and scenic opportunities.

The Study Group's plan, now known as the Coordinated Water Resource Management Plan, was the first regional water plan in the state. The plan was completed in 1992 and adopted by Gooding, Jerome and Lincoln counties. Adoption of the plan by the counties established the Middle Snake Regional Water Resource Commission. The purpose of the commission is to give the region a voice in water quality and quantity issues within the region and it remains the only such organization in the state. County commissioners appoint two commission members from each county and one county commissioner from each county serves on the commission's executive committee. Each county is assessed an annual amount for the day to day operation of the commission. The newly appointed commission members immediately began work on a water quantity portion of the plan which was completed in 1995. Shortly after the adoption of the quantity portion of the plan Twin Falls County adopted the Coordinated Water Resource Management Plan and became a full member of the commission.

The commission still needed to develop two additional sections to the plan. In 1995 the commission hired Virginia Rickets, a local historian, to develop the history portion of the plan and thereby define the customs and culture of the region with regard to our water resources. The commission also asked the University of Idaho, through its extension service, to help with the development of an economic section to the plan which would put a dollar value on the region's water. These portions of the plan were completed and adopted in 1996 at which time Cassia and Minidoka counties became full members of the commission. Minidoka County has since withdrawn from the commission.

In 1996 the Gooding County commissioners began experiencing drinking water quality problems in an area north and west of the city of Gooding. The county commissioners asked the commission if there was something it could do about the problem. The commission could only refer them to the Idaho Department of Agriculture. The other member counties agreed that ground water quality was becoming a problem in the region and directed the commission to add steps to protect ground water quality in the plan. The only state plan dealing with ground water issues was a well head protection plan which pertained to city and community well systems and was under the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. The member counties needed to do what they could to protect all drinking water wells in the region including individual systems. The commission devised a two prong approach to ground water protection. They would simultaneously develop a ground water nitrate vulnerability map for the region and expand the water quality portion of the plan to include ground water quality. The commission contracted with the USGS to compile the necessary data and develop a nitrate vulnerability map for the region which was completed in 2002. The information developed by the USGS was incorporated into the water quality section of the plan the same year.

Since the early 1990's the commission has been concerned about the slow decline to the water table in the Snake Plain Aquifer. Flows from springs were in decline and some wells in the region needed to be deepened to find water. The causes of the decline were many and included the switch from gravity irrigation to sprinkler and the growing pressure from large irrigation wells. The Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) had placed a moratorium on new wells in the region, but still allowed the full transfer of well rights from outside the region. The commission believed that the above ground and underground water resources in region as well as the entire Snake Plain Aquifer should be conjunctively managed and the full transfer of well rights from outside the region should stop. IDWR finally instituted conjunctive management rules for the Snake Plain and stopped allowing the transfer of full well rights from outside the region. The commission, long ago, recognized the economic importance of ground water recharge and urged the IDWR to find recharge sites within the region to be used during high water years. The benefits of recharge were finally recognized in the state's Comprehensive Aquifer Management Plan developed by the Idaho Water Resource Board which was approved by the legislature in 2010. Recharge efforts remain weak, however, because of a lack of funding to build adequate recharge sites. Recent changes to the Coordinated Water Resource Management Plan reflect the concerns outlined above.

Early in 2010 the Jerome County Commissioners asked the commission for help when they were approached by the city of Jerome to work with them on adopting a drinking water protection plan and ordinance. The county commissioners informed the city that they should work through the commission as a plan to protect the county's ground water resources was already in place. The needs of the city, however, were not fully addressed by the regional plan. The commission decided the best approach was to develop and incorporate a separate well head protection plan and sample ordinance within the water quality section of the plan. This, along with a section on aquatic nuisance species and heavy industry, was added to the plan in 2011.