“It was the warmest winter on record since 1895,” said Erin Whorton, a hydrologist and water supply specialist with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service during the Idaho Water Users Association summer meeting in June.

While new irrigation technologies can be valuable tools, improving irrigation efficiency does not always require a major investment. In many cases, small management changes can have a significant impact on water use, crop performance and overall profitability.

Billy Wolfe is worried. Or perhaps “worried” is too strong a word for someone as unflappable as Wolfe, but he’s staring down the 2026 summer farming season, and he knows this year is going to be difficult, hot and dry. So very dry.

Even small improvements in how water is applied and managed can make a noticeable difference in irrigation efficiency and crop performance. Utah State University (USU) is currently studying four types of wheel‑line sprinklers (traditional impact sprinklers and newer rotator styles) to see how they affect irrigation efficiency and yields in common forage crops.

As it commonly is with water projects in the Gem State, money is being dedicated at a constant basis on projects focusing in the short- and long-term future. Idaho Water Resource Board chairman Jeff Raybould presented an extensive review of how state funding has targeted specific projects across the state’s aquifers, streams and rivers.

The long battle with quagga mussels in the middle portion of the Snake River has been filled with countless casualties, which is precisely the point of its success, say officials from the Idaho State Department of Agriculture.

Water shortages have been a rising concern throughout Idaho during recent years. What makes this matter even worse is when a canal is unable to effectively hold all the water that it does contain. Twin Falls Canal Company (TFCC) is in the process of solving that issue for many of their shareholders.

Last year, 6,000 Idahoans signed the Senate Joint Memorial 101 (SJM 101) petition to “Keep Idaho Water.” SJM 101 aims to evaluate and expand Idaho’s long-term water storage capacity – including thorough studies of the potential reconstruction of the Teton Dam.

Idaho was the second-fastest-growing state in the nation from 2010 to 2020, hitting 17.3% growth over the decade. Idaho has gone from 1.567 million in the 2010 U.S. Census to 2.002 million in the July 2024 estimate.

Is cloud seeding good for Idaho? Is it an effective way to increase the snowpack and, eventually, the water supply? What are cloud seeding’s effects on the landscape, human and wildlife populations?