TWIN FALLS - Just a day after the North Side Canal Co. announced it would stop supplying water to irrigators for a week, the Twin Falls Canal Co. said Tuesday a shutdown for its users is unlikely.

The Idaho Department of Water Resources has ensured TFCC access to 1,075,900 acre feet of water owed to them by groundwater pumpers. An acre foot is enough water to cover one acre in water one foot deep.

The access is good news for irrigators, who worried the TFCC could run out of water before crops are out of the ground.

TFCC plans to continue to deliver five-eighths of an inch of water to farmers and subdivisions mostly south of the Snake River. That number is a measure of flow: 50 inches of water equals one cubic foot per second that's applied to 80 acres.

"It appears that amount will be available," IDWR Director Dave Tuthill said.

Though conditions are dry, more water than expected is appearing in the springs of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, an underground water system linked to the surface water relied on by the canal company.

Between Aug. 1 and Aug. 12, about 10,000 acre feet more than expected appeared at the springs. Tuthill said regional rains could have contributed.

North Side Canal Co. said Monday it would stop supplying water to irrigators between Aug. 31 and Sept. 8 to ensure water was available near harvest.

Times-News staff writer Matt Christensen covers the environment. He welcomes comments at 735-3243 and at matt.christensen@lee.net.