Feasibility of ground-water features of the alternate plan for the Mountain Home Project, Idaho: abstract and summary

Abstract

House of Representatives, 83d Congr. let Seas., May 195.3 recommended study of the Altemate Plan, for irrigation of the Nountain Home Project and dra:Ulage of waterlogged or threatened la...!d. in the Boise Vall~. The United States Geologi,;al SurYey and tt~P. U. S. Bt::"eau of Rec~wnation began an evaluation study in Jr:id-1953 of enginel!ring, h;ydrolog!.e, geologic, and other facto:• a that would a!'fect or d"termine the fe:l.sibility of the plan. A fs:.sibility r eport M.F• r'3l::aeed to the ~J.ic in duplicated form by the Bureau of Reclamation in April 1955. A report by the Geological Survey on the feaeiblJ~ty of those parts of the plan that relate to geology and ground watf.'!r, ~Ill!! released to the open file for public inspection in April 1955. The report is being pr.J1ted and only a few typewritten copies are available now. Theae

Ground water for irrigation in the Snake River Basin in Idaho

“…Probably a few thousand acre-feet is discharged from wells north of the Boise River. Stevens (1962) estimated that ground-water withdrawals in the Dry Lake area south of Nampa (not included in the report by Nace, West, and Mower (1957)) was about 9,000 acre-feet in 1957. Since 1957, in the Dry Lake area pumping probably has doubled.…”

“…[After Nace, West, and Mower (1957 From the above data, it is obvious that the ground water has a wide range in suitability for irrigation. The geographic distribution of the various types of water is poorly known and should be studied in detail before any large-scale development of ground-water supplies for irrigation is attempted.…”

“…Nace, West, and Mower (1957) estimated that 128,000 acre-feet is withdrawn annually from irrigation and drainage wells south of the Boire River, principally in the south-central part of the subarea. Much of the water from the drainage wells is used for irrigation.…”

“…The two basins are similar in topographic relief, aquifers, mode and relative amount of recharge and discharge of ground water, agricultural development, and climate. Only the Boise River valley had been studied previously (Nace, West, and Mower, 1957).…”

“…The total discharge of ground water into the drains far exceeds the discharge of ground water by the irrigation and drainage well? (Nace, West and Mower, 1957). Ground water is the sole supply for about 20,000 acres of land and supplements the surface-water supply for an unknown additional number of acres.…”