I have to be honest…I’m no water rights attorney or activist. I’m just a reporter trying to convey what’s going on in the world of agriculture and every time I get a press release or see an article in the paper about the goings-on down around the North Snake and Magic Valley Ground Water districts, I have to put on my thickest reading glasses and take extra nutritional supplements to stimulate my brain…cause it’s hard to understand. I did a story on all of this last month with outgoing IDWR Director Dave Tuthill and he said everything was resolved. Now there’s a new hold-up that Interim Director Gary Spackman is taking on: “Well I didn’t anticipate this would confront me in the first week of being the Interim Director and Director Tuthill, my predecessor worked very hard prior to his departure to facilitate an agreement. We discovered the end of June  and 2^nd week of July that all of those commitments, particularly those made by the ground water users had not been satisfied.”

 So IDWR ordered groundwater wells across nearly 9,000 acres in Southern Idaho shut off, as of July 31. The shutdown affects 250 water users and they have 6 days to find an alternative.

 Welcome to your new job Trial by Fire. “Yeah! I’m not used to being in this chair with a Bunsen burner underneath it or make that a propane torch.”