North Idaho Adjudication

North Idaho Adjudication Ramping Up

With Idaho set to wrap up a 27-year water-rights adjudication of unprecedented scale nationwide, water administrators are gradually shifting their focus to the state’s northern basins and a procedure expected to take only a fraction of the time as the Snake River Basin Adjudication (SRBA).  The SRBA — involving all Idaho-situated tributaries of the Snake River, which extend over 90 percent of the state — will become the nation’s largest general adjudication brought to completion.  In comparison, the North Idaho Adjudication (NIA) will encompass parts of only six counties and stretches just 180 miles south of the Canadian border.

Three Phases

In actuality, the North Idaho Adjudication has been under way since 2008, and the first of its three phases, covering the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane River Basins, has predominantly taken shape. Nearly 11,500 claims have been filed, and director’s reports for all five basins are anticipated by mid-2016. The second phase of the NIA, involving the Palouse River Basin, is expected to commence next summer, while the third, for the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille River Basins, is projected to start before 2020. The state’s Adjudication Court anticipates it will see claims filed for up to 30,000 water rights, or roughly one-fifth the number it processed during the SRBA.

While the NIA’s scope promises a far more expedited process than did the SRBA, so does the experience gained in the prior adjudication. The Fifth Judicial District Court in Twin Falls will retain jurisdiction — although the staff will travel north on occasion, a majority of the court’s business will be conducted by way of video or audio teleconferencing — and the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) has become adept at handling whatever issues arise, whether they require extensive site investigations or guidance on basic procedural matters.

Water Rights Holders’ Responsibilities

Holders of water rights predating the NIA’s November 12, 2008 commencement must participate or the right will be extinguished once a final decree is entered. Rights that fit the statutory definition of domestic or stockwater use are deferrable, but IDWR advises such users to file claims as well, considering the insignificant cost ($25) as compared to the benefit of having a decreed right.

This may prove vital for users in Kootenai County — where Coeur d’Alene is located — if the state of Washington establishes proposed in-stream flows for the Spokane River in stretches west of the Idaho state line. Although Washington has no administrative authority over water users in Idaho, observers anticipate conflicting interstate demands will ultimately lead to litigation and an interstate compact.The priority date for the involved rights may very well determine which State (and its users) prevails.

For more information, go to http://www.idwr.idaho.gov/WaterManagement/NorthIdAdju/default.htm