BOISE n Water could soon flow through Magic Valley canals, trickle down through the area’s desert soils and replenish the depleted aquifer.

It’s called recharge, and everyone agrees that the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer is in need of it. But, like with all things relating to water, the parties involved can’t strike a deal to get it done. On Friday, lawmakers in the House moved one step closer to a legislative solution n one that Idaho Power officials say will result in higher rates to its customers.

“Idaho Power is hoping to win this politically because they don’t think they can win this in the courts,” House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, said while debating in favor of his proposed bill. “This is not going to drive up power rates.”

Newcomb’s legislation, which passed the House 43-22, would favor using water in the Snake River for recharge over power production. It will be forwarded to the Senate.

In 1984, the state and Idaho Power entered into the Swan Falls Agreement n a pact that guaranteed the power company minimum summer and winter flow rights at the Swan Falls dam. The two agreed that the state could use any water the power company had claims to above those minimums as long as the state put it to beneficial use.

At the time of the Swan Falls Agreement, the state had not formally defined recharge as a “beneficial use” despite recognizing as such in a 1978 project in eastern Idaho. When the Legislature updated statutes in 1994 to include recharge as a beneficial use, it did so with the provision that replenishing the aquifer comes secondary to using water for hydropower production. Newcomb’s legislation reverses that.

“To contend that recharge is not a beneficial use ... is just plain wrong,” Newcomb said.

Surface and groundwater users in southern Idaho have been fighting over dwindling water from the aquifer n a fight that puts not only farmers, but also towns and industry at risk, said Rep. Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg.

“When we have that possibility of that kind of economic downturn because of water calls, that affects everyone,” he said.

Idaho Power officials say the state is taking their water rights. They claim that the company will have to purchase power elsewhere to make up for lost power generation. That purchase will result in higher rates to customers.

“The discussion is about water in the river,” said Dennis Lopez, spokesman for the company. “We have a right to our water in the river within the confines of our water rights.”

Rep. Margaret Henbest, D-Boise, expressed concern that Newcomb’s bill will place a priority on recharge at the expense of power generation. Industry and businesses that depend on low power rates could be harmed by the legislation, she said.

Henbest also is worried that the bill creates a property takings. And, Henbest says she isn’t ready to go to court over something she isn’t sure the state would win.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne had been working with water users and Idaho Power to develop a pilot recharge project that would have put water in the canals for recharge with a $1.6 million price tag attached. The Surface Water Coalition, made up of Magic Valley canal companies and irrigation districts, supports the governor’s plan.

Newcomb, however, said he finds the idea of paying Idaho Power money for water he considers the state’s “absurd.”

As the irrigation season grows closer, the chance for recharge this year grows fainter. And, the area doesn’t see recharge possibilities that frequently.

“If we waste a year like this and we don’t recharge, then shame on us,” said Rep. Scott Bedke, R-Oakley.

Reporter Michelle Dunlop covers the Legislature and natural resources for The Times-News. She can be reached in Boise at 343-5553 or by e-mail at mdunlop@magicvalley.com.