2019 Idaho Code
Title 42 - IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE -- WATER RIGHTS AND RECLAMATION
Chapter 17 - DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES — WATER RESOURCE BOARD
Section 42-1760 - WATER MANAGEMENT ACCOUNT.

42-1760. WATER MANAGEMENT ACCOUNT. (1) There is hereby created and established in the trust and agency fund the water management account. All moneys in the account are appropriated continuously to the water resource board to be used and administered by it for the purposes specified in subsection (2) of this section, and shall not be subject to the provisions of the standard appropriations act of 1945 or section 67-3516, Idaho Code. The state treasurer shall invest the idle moneys of the account, and the interest earned on such investments shall be retained by the account.

(2) The board may expend, loan or grant moneys from the water management account for new water projects or the rehabilitation of existing water projects limited to the following purposes: reclamation, upstream storage, offstream storage, aquifer recharge, reservoir site acquisition and protection, water supply, water quality, recreation, and water resource studies, including feasibility studies for qualifying projects. The board shall have the authority to determine which water projects are undertaken pursuant to this section.

(a) Expenditures may be made from the account to provide public moneys for participation in any project constructed with funds from the water resource board revolving development account provided by section 42-1756, Idaho Code.

(b) Grants and loans may be made by the board from the account for any project in the public interest for the projects authorized by this section; no single grant shall exceed $50,000 unless legislative approval has been obtained.

(c) Expenditures may be made from the account for the costs of the following large water infrastructure projects:

• (i) Costs associated with the construction of a raise of Anderson ranch dam, located on the south fork of the Boise river;

  (ii) Costs associated with the Mountain Home air force base water delivery and treatment systems; and

  (iii) The enlargement or construction of new or existing surface storage reservoirs owned and operated by the United States bureau of reclamation or army corps of engineers.

(d) The selection of any new large water infrastructure project selected pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subsection must consider and protect existing water rights and consider the effects of such projects on other water uses, such as water quality, fish and wildlife, recreation, and hydropower, that provide economic value, stability, and other benefits to the citizens of the state.

(3) Any large infrastructure project receiving any portion of the funds approved pursuant to subsection (2)(c) of this section shall require that at least fifty percent (50%) matching funds be provided by parties other than the state. In the event of in-kind contributions, the board shall determine the value of the in-kind contribution.

(4) On or before the first day of each regular legislative session, the board shall submit to the legislature a report of any moneys expended or obligated and any work begun and/or completed in the prior or current fiscal year on a project selected pursuant to subsection (2)(c) of this section.

(5) The director of the department of water resources shall assist the board in any way the board deems necessary to fulfill the policy and purpose of the water management account, including technical evaluation of proposed projects and coordination in state and federal agencies.

History:

[42-1760, added 1978, ch. 356, sec. 1, p. 939; am. 1988, ch. 217, sec. 1, p. 412; am. 2019, ch. 317, sec. 2, p. 941.]