Idaho Rivers

New Dams on the Boise Leave Many Divided

By Bea Gordon, 8-05-10

	The Diversion Dam and Deer Flat Embankments on the Boise River. Photo by Glade Waker and used courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress, Prints and Photos Division.

Although the public comment period ended in July, the Army Corps of Engineers still face opposition from citizens regarding its proposal to add additional dams to the Boise River.

The Corps of Engineers and the Idaho Water Resource Board are surveying six potential dam sites along the Boise River from upper Mores Creek to the Upper North Fork. The idea is to look at each site’s capacity for new water storage projects within the region.

Ellen Berggren of the Corps of Engineers told Idaho’s NewsChannel 7 that the “corps has concerns about flood risk in the Treasure Valley.  The risk in the valley is still very, very high and we feel it’s probably higher than most people realize.”

Already one year into its three-year study of the future of water in the Boise River, the Corps is looking at ways to mitigate flood damage and water shortage in the coming years.  One avenue is the construction of dams and a number of reservoirs for storage. 

But the problem doesn’t seem so much an issue with “what” as it is with “where.” According to Idaho Rivers United Conservation Director Kevin Lewis, who writes in the organization’s newsletter, “These dams would destroy miles of river and inundate huge tracts of land.”

In an interview with New West, he explained his position further. “The concept of building additional dams up there is really insane.” The area in question involves critical habitat for bull trout, said Lewis. Additionally, it’s a landscape that is a huge recreational resource with whitewater opportunities and prime hunting and fishing.

Using the same dam to mitigate flood risk while also asking the structure to address water shortage problems doesn’t really make sense, said Lewis. “They’ve created a schizophrenic management plan and they can’t really quantify why we need it… To believe that building another dam will prevent floods is just wrong.  You might chop off low magnitude floods, but you also encourage bad behavior below the dam and spend a lot of money.”

But maybe that’s counting the proverbial chickens. The Army Corps still hasn’t ruled out other options.  The study, wrote Lt. Col. Dave Caldwell in an OpEd to the Idaho Statesman, is first and foremost an attempt to see what makes sense with respect to future water resource issues in the basin. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers performs studies like this to provide a full array of potential solutions and recommend a well-balanced plan of action to Congress if construction authorization and appropriations are needed,” said Caldwell in his piece.

Even so, “want and need are two very different things.  They want what they don’t need,” says Lewis.  “More than anything it’s the fact that the people in power tend to remain rooted in a 1920’s water management mindset.”

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