IWRRI director outlines $500,000-plus in research support and work on ESPA forecasts

Kendra Kaiser, Director of the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute (IWRRI), presented the institute's recent activities and priorities to the Senate Resources & Environment Committee. Kaiser said IWRRI distributed more than $500,000 to faculty at Boise State, Idaho State and the University of Idaho and that a 32-member Research Advisory Committee had identified more than 90 research needs across water scarcity, technology and water quality topics.

Kaiser outlined examples of ongoing projects, including tools to visualize snowpack relative to historical norms, efforts to improve how satellite imagery matches in‑water algae measurements, modeling of weather and climate systems, monitoring seepage along irrigation canals, and multiple projects focused on the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer (ESPA) to evaluate recovery strategies and develop seasonal curtailment forecasts. She told senators IWRRI was producing an analysis to provide early planning information for water users and expected a forecast by the second week of March; she also noted the largest uncertainty in that analysis was estimating precipitation late in the spring season. Senators asked whether IDWR would use IWRRI's analysis for official curtailment orders; Kaiser said IDWR would not use IWRRI's analysis to issue curtailments and that IWRRI's work was intended to offer independent early planning information for stakeholders.