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S1027...........................................................by STENNETT WATER PLAN - PAYETTE RIVER BASIN - Adds to existing law to provide legislative approval of the Comprehensive State Water Plan adopted by the Water Resource Board for the Payette River Basin, with additional protected river reach designations. 01/22 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing 01/25 Rpt prt - to Res/Env
S1027|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-fifth Legislature First Regular Session - 1999IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1027 BY STENNETT 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO THE COMPREHENSIVE STATE WATER PLAN; RATIFYING AND APPROVING THE 3 AMENDED COMPREHENSIVE STATE WATER PLAN FOR THE PAYETTE RIVER BASIN AS 4 ADOPTED BY THE IDAHO WATER RESOURCE BOARD IN 1999; AND DECLARING AN EMER- 5 GENCY. 6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 7 SECTION 1. That pursuant to Section 42-1734B(6), Idaho Code, the amended 8 Comprehensive State Water Plan for the Payette River Basin, adopted by resolu- 9 tion of the Idaho Water Resource Board in 1999, be, and the same is hereby 10 ratified and approved. In accordance with Section 42-1734A, Idaho Code, the 11 amended basin plan includes additional protected river reach designations as 12 follows: 13 Existing Designations 14 The Comprehensive State Water Plan: Payette River Reaches adopted by the 15 Board in February 1991 designated state protected rivers to preserve outstand- 16 ing resource values. This plan retains those state protected designations as 17 listed below and depicted in Map 1. 18 North Fork Payette River (9.6 miles): Cabarton Bridge to Rainbow Bridge - rec- 19 reational 20 South Fork Payette River (7.9 miles): Deadwood River confluence to Big Pine 21 Creek confluence - recreational 22 The following activities are prohibited on these reaches: 23 - construction or expansion of dams or impoundments; 24 - construction of hydropower projects; 25 - construction of water diversion works; 26 - dredge or placer mining; 27 - mineral or sand and gravel extraction within the steam bed; and 28 - stream channel alterations. 29 Exceptions to the above prohibitions include: 30 - New diversion works shall be limited to pump installations that do 31 not create an obstruction in the river, and are sized to supply water 32 for the standard domestic definition or a capacity sufficient for 33 stock water or developed rest areas, picnic, and campground purposes 34 (not to exceed a diversion rate of 0.04 cubic feet per second). 35 - Stream channel alterations necessary to maintain and improve exist- 36 ing utilities, roadways, managed stream access facilities, diversion 37 works, and for the maintenance of real (private or public) property. 38 North Fork Payette River (18.4 miles): Rainbow Bridge to Banks - recreational 39 South Fork Payette River (7.6 miles): Middle Fork confluence to Banks - recre- 40 ational 41 Payette River (7.2 miles): Banks to Beehive Bend boat access - recreational 42 The following activities are prohibited on these reaches: 2 1 - construction or expansion of dams or impoundments; 2 - construction of hydropower projects; 3 - construction of water diversion works; 4 - dredge or placer mining; 5 - mineral or sand and gravel extraction within the steam bed; and 6 - stream channel alterations. 7 Exceptions to the above prohibitions include: 8 - New diversion works shall be limited to pump installations that do 9 not create an obstruction in the river for the following purposes: 10 irrigation of basin lands; stock water; developed rest area, picnic 11 and campground areas; and for domestic, commercial, municipal and 12 industrial needs. 13 - Stream channel alterations necessary to maintain and improve exist- 14 ing utilities, roadways, managed stream access facilities, diversion 15 works, and for the maintenance of real (private and public) property. 16 South Fork Payette River (20.3 miles): Sawtooth National Recreation Area 17 boundary to Deadwood River confluence - recreational 18 South Fork Payette River (16.0 miles): Big Pine Creek confluence to Middle 19 Fork confluence - recreational 20 The following activities are prohibited on these reaches: 21 - construction or expansion of dams or impoundments; 22 - construction of hydropower projects; 23 - construction of water diversion works; 24 - dredge or placer mining; 25 - mineral or sand and gravel extraction within the steam bed; and 26 - stream channel alterations. 27 Exceptions to the above prohibitions include: 28 - New diversion works shall be limited to pump installations that do 29 not create an obstruction in the river for the following purposes: 30 irrigation of basin lands; stock water; developed rest area, picnic 31 and campground areas; and for domestic, commercial, municipal and 32 industrial needs. 33 - Stream channel alterations necessary to maintain and improve exist- 34 ing utilities, roadways, managed stream access facilities, diversion 35 works, and for the maintenance of real (private and public) property. 36 - Recreational dredge mining is permitted as regulated by the Idaho 37 Department of Water Resources and Idaho Department of Lands. 38 Alteration of the streambed, except for maintenance and repair of existing 39 diversion works, must comply with the Idaho Stream Channel Alteration Rules 40 and Minimum Standards. 41 Additional State Protected Designations 42 The Board considered the impacts of additional protected river designa- 43 tions, and determined it is in the public interest to designate the additional 44 stream reaches listed below and depicted in Map 1. 45 North Fork Payette (23.6 miles): Headwaters (including Cloochman and Trail 46 Creeks) to Payette Lake Inlet - recreational 47 The following activities are prohibited on this reach: 48 - construction or expansion of dams or impoundments; 49 - construction of hydropower projects; 50 - construction of water diversion works; 51 - dredge or placer mining; 52 - mineral or sand and gravel extraction within the steam bed; and 3 1 - stream channel alterations. 2 Exceptions to the above prohibitions include: 3 - Stream channel alterations necessary to maintain and improve exist- 4 ing utilities, roadways, managed stream access facilities, diversion 5 works, and for the maintenance of real (private and public) property. 6 - Alterations of the stream channel for installation of fisheries 7 enhancement structures and other activities necessary for fishery 8 management. 9 - This designation is not intended to restrict current and future 10 operations at Upper Payette Lake by the Lake Reservoir Company, 11 including enlargement of the dam or lake. 12 Alteration of the streambed, except for maintenance and repair of existing 13 diversion works, must comply with the Idaho Stream Channel Alterations Rules 14 and Minimum Standards. 15 To help implement the objectives and goals of the State of Idaho Bull 16 Trout Conservation Plan (Batt, 1996), the Board designates bull trout focal 17 habitat as recreational rivers at the request of the Southwest Basin Native 18 Fish Watershed Advisory Group. These river and stream reaches are "critical 19 areas supporting a high mosaic of high quality habitats that sustain a diver- 20 sity or unusually productive complement of native species" (Batt, 1996). Bull 21 trout focal habitat designated for key watersheds in the Payette River Basin 22 and depicted in Map 1 are listed below. 23 Gold Fork Bull Trout Key Watershed (recreational) 24 North Fork Gold Fork River and tributaries (18.5 miles) - Headwaters to South 25 Fork Gold Fork River confluence, and unnamed perennial tributaries upstream of 26 the Lodgepole Creek confluence 27 South Fork Gold Fork River (4.7 miles) - Headwaters to North Fork Gold Fork 28 River confluence 29 South Fork Payette Bull Trout Key Watershed (recreational) 30 South Fork Payette River (9.7 miles) - Smith Falls to Mink Creek confluence 31 Goat Creek (5.8 miles) - Blue Rock Lake Creek confluence to South Fork Payette 32 River confluence 33 Baron Creek (7.6 miles) - Braxon Lake Creek confluence to South Fork Payette 34 River confluence 35 Wapiti Creek (5.5 miles) - Headwaters to South Fork Payette River confluence 36 Canyon Creek and tributaries (14.8 miles) - Headwaters to South Fork Canyon 37 Creek confluence, and the following tributaries: 38 - North Fork Canyon Creek - Headwaters (including unnamed perennial 39 headwater tributary) to mouth 40 - South Fork Canyon Creek - Headwaters to mouth 41 Clear Creek (12.5 miles) - Headwaters to Blacks Creek confluence, 42 Warm Springs Creek and tributaries (18.9 miles) - Headwaters to East Fork Warm 43 Springs Creek confluence, and the following tributaries: 44 - Middle Fork Warm Springs Creek - Headwaters to mouth, including unnamed 45 perennial tributary 46 - East Fork Warm Springs Creek - Headwaters (including unnamed perennial 4 1 headwater tributaries) to mouth 2 Scott Creek and tributary (9.6 miles) - Headwaters to South Fork Scott Creek 3 confluence, and the following tributary: 4 - Smith Creek - Headwaters to mouth 5 Deadwood Bull Trout Key Watershed (recreational) 6 Deadwood River (4.3 miles) - Headwaters to East Fork Deadwood River confluence 7 Deer Creek and tributaries (14.6 miles) - Headwaters to Deadwood River conflu- 8 ence, and the following headwater tributaries: 9 - North Fork Deer Creek - Headwaters to mouth 10 - South Fork Deer Creek - Headwaters (including unnamed perennial 11 headwater tributary) to mouth 12 Wild Buck Creek (4.3 miles) - Headwaters to Deadwood Reservoir 13 South Fork Beaver Creek (0.1 miles) - One hundred yards upstream of Forest 14 Trail 023 to Deadwood Reservoir 15 Trail Creek (6.5 miles) - Headwaters to Deadwood Reservoir 16 Middle Fork Payette Bull Trout Key Watershed (recreational) 17 Middle Fork Payette River and tributaries (18.3 miles) - Headwaters to Ligget 18 Creek confluence, and unnamed perennial tributaries 19 Bull Creek and tributary (10.6 miles) - Headwaters to mouth, and the following 20 tributary: 21 - Oxtail Creek - Headwaters to mouth 22 Squaw Creek Bull Trout Key Watershed (recreational) 23 Squaw Creek and tributaries (11.2 miles) - Poison Creek confluence to Cold 24 Spring Creek confluence, and the following tributaries: 25 - Pole Creek - Headwaters to mouth 26 - Unnamed tributary - Headwaters (located in T. 13 N., R. 2 E., southeast 27 1/4 of Section 15) to mouth 28 Third Fork Squaw Creek and tributaries (15.8 miles) - Headwaters to Mesa Creek 29 confluence, and unnamed perennial tributaries 30 The following activities are prohibited on these reaches: 31 - construction or expansion of dams or impoundments; 32 - construction of hydropower projects; 33 - construction of water diversion works; 34 - commercial dredge or placer mining; 35 - mineral or sand and gravel extraction within the steam bed; and 36 - stream channel alterations. 37 Exceptions to the above prohibitions include: 38 - Stream channel alterations necessary to maintain and improve exist- 39 ing utilities, roadways, managed stream access facilities, diversion 40 works, and for the maintenance of real (private and public) property. 41 - Alterations of the stream channel for stream habitat improvement 42 and other activities for fisheries management. 43 - Stream channel alterations necessary for installation or to upgrade 44 culverts to contain larger streamflows, or improve fish passage. 5 1 Alteration of the streambed, except for maintenance and repair of existing 2 diversion works, must comply with the Idaho Stream Channel Alteration Rules 3 and Minimum Standards. 4 SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby 5 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its 6 passage and approval.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS08697
This provides for the reauthorization of the Comprehensive
State Water Plan for the Payette River Basin as adopted by the
Idaho Water Resource Board in February 1991. The plan provides
protected status to the Payette River Reaches designated in 1991
to preserve outstanding resource values.
This plan provides for additional protected reaches to
preserve outstanding resource values and provides protection for
key bull trout habitat.
FISCAL NOTE
None.
CONTACT: Senator Clint Stennett
332-1351
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/ FISCAL NOTE 51027