Legislative budget panel hears water resources request for staff, $30 million ongoing recommendation

The Joint House and Senate budget committee on March budget session heard a presentation from the Idaho Department of Water Resources and the Idaho Water Resource Board on the agencies' budget, project commitments, and staffing needs.

The presentation outlined that the department and board are administering large, multi‑year water projects funded in part by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) state fiscal recovery funds, and that the governor recommended adding $30,000,000 in ongoing general funds to the department's base to support water projects. Janet Jessup, budget and policy analyst with legislative services, told the committee the agencies' materials are available on SharePoint and pointed lawmakers to the natural resources section of the legislative budget book.

Why it matters: committee members pressed department leaders on how quickly large appropriations can be spent, which projects are already committed, and whether the department has sufficient staff to meet increased administrative demands tied to basin adjudications, water‑district creation and expanded recharge work.

The department said much of the agency's recent spending increase in fiscal 2023 resulted from ARPA allocations. Director Matt Weaver and Idaho Water Resource Board Chairman Jeff Raybould described projects funded from the water management account and other dedicated funds and answered lawmakers' questions about…