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I attended the Groundwater Forum last night at the 1912 Building. The presentation regarding the state of our aquifer was informative. The bottom line is that our groundwater level is dropping and eventually will be depleted. The goal is to prevent that from happening, hopefully without major hassles or expense. It will come down to the policies our region develops to try and sustain quality groundwater and to each individual's personal use. We all need to conserve water as much as possible.
There was a presentation at the end regarding the Naylor Farm water rights permit and the City of Moscow and others' petition against the permit. The concern is that if granted, the farm may be taking more than its fair share of groundwater, which may infringe on the water rights of Moscow and the UI.
There was also the concern that they would not be able to access the amount water needed for their operation because the bedrock where the farm is located is shallow and thick and therefore the well would have to be drilled through this bedrock to reach the lower aquifer. Some think it would not be worth the effort to attempt to acquire that water.
A person (Phil ?) who works for Alchemy, the company trying to open a kaolin clay mine near Deary, was in the audience. He seemed to be familiar with the water rights request and the history of the farm. He said that Anaconda (apparently a mining company that owned the land previously) drilled a well on the property and was able to withdraw water. He seemed to think that acquiring water below the property would not be a problem.
He also stated that the permit allows the owner to use the water only for the intended purposes (in this case, apparently an organic farm) and that in order to use the water for other purposes, the owner would have to reapply for a permit.
My questions regarding this:
1) What is the intention of Naylor Farms? Have they been open to the public about what they are planning? They did not attend the meeting last night, though it would have been a good opportunity for them to clear up confusion.
2) What is Alchemy's interest in all this?
3) Can water rights be resold? I've heard of other water rights being sold in the past. Could Naylor farms sell the water rights to Alchemy?
There will be a public hearing regarding the permit sometime early next year.
There will be a continuation of the Groundwater Forum Thursday night at the 1912 Building starting at 7pm. I encourage all those interested in this subject to attend.
Garrett Clevenger
"What are we doing to our Home?!:("