578 



gain to the stream could be half or more of the above estimates. 



The Task Force should keep two things in mind about conservation. 

 First, farmers benefit from conservation, so are becoming more 

 efficient all the time. Conservation undertaken in the decade 

 after the 1978 drought reduced diversions by about 800,000 acre 

 feet (AF) in the upper Snake alone. 



Second, under current laws and practices, none of this 

 conservation provides additional flows for fish. What happens to 

 the extra water? In Idaho, many irrigators can carry it over 

 from year to year as insurance against drought. Some water goes 

 to more junior appropriators. These uses are perfectly legal, 

 but they neither benefit ailing stream systems nor improve 

 fishery conditions. 



Farmers also use conserved water to irrigate more land than 

 authorized in their permits or Bureau contracts. This use, 

 called "water spreading," violates contracts, skirts the public 

 process required before new consumptive uses can be approved, and 

 potentially harms fish and wildlife. The Bureau of Reclamation 

 and the state should put a stop to it.^° 



The fact that water conservation so seldom benefits streams has 

 led NRDC to emphasize the creation of accessible water transfer 

 mechanisms and streamflow protections, rather than recommending 

 conservation as an end in itself. Increased use of transfers can 

 increase the economic efficiency of water both by encouraging 

 conservation and by allowing water to move to higher valued uses. 



Seeking a transfer program of value to both farmers and fish, 

 NRDC commissioned a study of a dry-year option leasing program 

 aimed at surplus and low-value crops. Surplus crops are planted 

 on about 30 percent of the land irrigated with Bureau of 

 Reclamation water. The federal government tries to discourage 

 production of those crops through the crop subsidy program. Our 

 hypothetical water-leasing program aimed to provide water to fish 

 by reducing surplus crop production in dry years. The report 

 found that the power generated incidentally with water leased for 

 fish purposes was worth twice as much as the income lost when 

 crop production was reduced. In short, a dry-year leasing 

 program financed by Bonneville could pay a farmer enough to make 



^°NRDC recommends that the Bureau promulgate regulations 

 governing beneficial use, and review contracts periodically to 

 ensure compliance. Before approving any expansion of use, the 

 Bureau should reallocate a portion of the water to streamflows. 



