Note: This post was written by our friends at Advocates for the West who represented colleague organization the Committee for Idaho’s High Desert on this issue. ICL was represented by our Water Associate, Marie Callaway Kellner.
Advocates for the West and our partners thwarted Devil’s Corral, LLC’s attempt to game the system and easily get a water right for the entire flow of Devil’s Corral Spring on the Snake River.
This pure, 3/4 mile-long spring emerges in a deep basalt canyon and flows freely into the Snake River, just upstream of Shoshone Falls. It is an important refuge for fish living in the highly degraded mid-Snake.
Devil’s Corral, LLC wants to build a residential development, event center and recreation facility, including zip lines and waterslides, in the Snake River canyon near Twin Falls. The company’s plan includes constructing dams and stocked fishing ponds along the length of Devil’s Corral Spring.
Devil’s Corral, LLC tried to use an old, languishing water right application from the 1980s to get a right for the entire flow of the spring while avoiding public involvement and circumventing current Idaho water law requirements.
Representing the Committee for Idaho’s High Desert (CIHD), we teamed up with Idaho Conservation League to file a Motion for Summary Judgment. On June 14, the Idaho Department of Water Resources granted our motion. Now, the company must amend its application and give the public notice and a fair opportunity to comment on the project if they still wish to move forward.
– Advocates for the West