Idaho Agriculture Department details budget increases tied to quagga mussel response and investigator pay

Frances Lippett, a budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that the Idaho State Department of Agriculture’s fiscal 2026 request includes targeted funding to address invasive quagga mussels and to shore up investigator pay and equipment.

Lippett said the legislature approved a $5,000,000 cash infusion from the general fund to the invasive species fund during the last session and that the governor recommended ongoing general fund support of about $1,500,000 for quagga mussel response to support staffing and check-station needs. "The projected decline that you see in the fund balance reflects the extent of that effort rather than any decline in sticker fee revenue," Lippett said, referring to watercraft sticker fees that primarily fund the invasive species program.

The department’s director, Chanel Tewell, told the committee the agency doubled statewide water sampling and nearly doubled the number of watercraft inspections after the 2023 detection on the Snake River. "We asked for funding and ... to add three more stations," Tewell said. "What we did with adding three more stations and expanding the work at every station was to almost double the amount of…