Government and civic life
💧 Water, Land and Agriculture
Learn how Western water rights, Idaho's water agencies, irrigation, groundwater rules, land use planning and farm economics actually work, with the unit math shown. You will be able to read a water right record, follow a curtailment order or zoning hearing, and understand fairly who gets water and land when new users show up.
- 1First in Time: How Western Water Rights WorkLearn prior appropriation, priority dates, beneficial use and forfeiture, and how the Western system differs from the riparian law used in the East.16 min
- 2Who Runs Idaho Water: IDWR, the Board and the AdjudicationsMeet the Idaho Department of Water Resources and the Water Resource Board, learn what the Snake River Basin Adjudication settled, and see how permits, licenses, decrees and domestic exemptions fit together.15 min
- 3One Water: Conjunctive Management and the Eastern Snake Plain AquiferFollow how Idaho manages wells and rivers as one connected supply, how the Surface Water Coalition delivery call produces curtailment orders each year, and what mitigation plans, settlements and recharge do.18 min
- 4How Irrigation Works: Canals, Acre-Feet and EfficiencyLearn who runs canals, how water is measured in cfs and acre-feet, how to convert between them, and why sprinkler efficiency changes where water goes more than how much a crop uses.17 min
- 5Groundwater, Wells and Water QualityLearn how wells draw down an aquifer, what nitrate results mean and how to avoid the most common unit trap, and how dairies and other feeding operations are regulated by ISDA, EPA, DEQ and counties.17 min
- 6Land Use: Plans, Zoning, Permits and FarmlandLearn how Idaho's Local Land Use Planning Act works, from the comp plan to zoning, conditional use permits, written decisions and appeals, plus right to farm, conservation easements and the honest arguments over farmland conversion.18 min
- 7Farm Economics: Markets, Programs, Land Values and Who Owns the GroundRead Idaho's Census of Agriculture numbers, see how crop and dairy income, federal farm programs and land values fit together, and check claims about who owns farmland.17 min
- 8New Claims on Old Water: Data Centers, Energy and FarmlandSee how a data center, solar field or other new user actually gets water and land in a fully claimed Western basin, and do the math that turns a company's gallons-per-day claim into acres of farmland.17 min
- 9Reading Water Right Records and IDWR MapsUse IDWR's search and map tools to find a water right, decode its elements and legal land description, trace transfers and wells, and describe the record accurately in plain language.16 min