This bill allocates $390,000 from the General Fund to Idaho's Department of Water Resources for fiscal year 2027 to support personnel, planning, and two specific stream adjudication projects in Northern Idaho and the Bear River Basin. It also transfers $716,000 from the Revolving Development Fund to the Aquifer Planning and Management Fund to finance aquifer monitoring, measurement, and modeling activities. The legislation reappropriates unspent American Rescue Plan funds for nonrecurring water infrastructure projects and allows general stream adjudication funding to count toward filing fees for certain water right claims. Finally, the bill declares an emergency and sets the effective date as July 1, 2026.
This Idaho bill restricts how data centers can use water for cooling purposes, specifically targeting facilities that begin construction on or after July 1, 2026. Under the new rules, data centers may only use water for cooling if it comes from a municipal water system, water district, or water and sewer district. The legislation aims to protect local water supplies and watersheds by preventing data centers from using water that would otherwise be available for other community needs. The law requires the state Department of Water Resources to consider these water conservation goals when reviewing water rights applications for data centers.
This bill allocates funding to the Idaho Department of Lands for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, directing specific amounts to support personnel costs, capital projects, and trustee benefit payments across various programs including business services, forest resources, trust land management, fire protection, and minerals. The legislation provides $2.7 million for fiscal year 2027 and $285,000 for fiscal year 2026, while simultaneously reducing certain appropriations from previous budgets to balance the overall funding. It designates $145,000 specifically for the Idaho Geological Survey and allows the Forest and Range Fire Protection Program to receive unlimited transfers from other departmental funds for both fiscal years. Additionally, the bill limits General Fund bonuses to firefighters with incident qualification cards and requires a report on 2026 fire season bonus awards to be submitted by January 5, 2027.
This bill provides funding for Idaho's Soil and Water Conservation Commission for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, directing money through both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Water Resources. It reduces the Department of Agriculture's allocation for 2027 while increasing the Department of Water Resources' funding for the same period, with specific amounts designated for personnel, operations, capital outlays, and trustee and benefit payments. The legislation also sets aside $300,000 to distribute equally among the state's 50 soil and water conservation districts and provides an additional $12,900 for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Once signed into law, the bill takes effect on July 1, 2026, with one section becoming effective immediately upon signing.
Idaho's H 630 amends state law to allow permits for shooting coyotes, wolves, and red foxes from aircraft to protect livestock, crops, or land. Landowners must provide written permission for operations on their property, and permit holders must submit quarterly reports to the agriculture department. The bill specifies that red fox control is permitted year-round in designated hunting areas or where predation is causing problems outside those areas. It also eliminates existing administrative rules about this practice, effective July 2026.
This bill appropriates approximately $25.9 million to Idaho's Department of Fish and Game for fiscal year 2027, covering administration, enforcement, fisheries, wildlife, and communications programs. The funding comes from state, federal, and other dedicated funds, with specific amounts allocated to personnel costs, operating expenditures, and capital outlays. The legislation also allows the department to use any unspent money from fiscal year 2026 for nonrecurring expenses in the following year. An emergency provision sets the effective date as July 1, 2026.
This bill updates Idaho's hazardous waste management laws by replacing the previous facility siting process with a new system. It creates requirements for siting licenses, establishes site review panels, and sets minimum criteria for hazardous waste facility locations. The bill prohibits local governments from restricting such facilities and mandates new reporting rules for waste management. These changes directly affect hazardous waste treatment/storage/disposal facilities, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, and local governments.
This Idaho bill (S 1269) revises state laws governing cloud seeding programs to clarify regulations and requirements. It defines cloud seeding (excluding fog/frost prevention), requires the Water Resource Board to authorize programs and mandate annual public reports on operations, environmental impacts, and effectiveness, and specifies that state funds may only support projects in basins with insufficient water supplies. The law also protects operators from liability claims related to cloud seeding activities and requires monthly operational reports from program operators. These changes directly affect the Water Resource Board, cloud seeding operators, and communities relying on water resources in Idaho basins.
H 676 amends Idaho water law to explicitly allow municipalities to secure rights for geothermal water used in heating and cooling systems. It requires municipal applicants to provide detailed documentation on where and how low-temperature geothermal water will be injected back into the ground after use. This update revises application rules and definitions to accommodate geothermal projects while ensuring environmental compliance. The bill passed the Idaho House of Representatives in February 2026 with strong bipartisan support.
This bill allocates state funding to Idaho's Natural Resources agencies for fiscal year 2027, covering operations, personnel, and capital projects across departments like Environmental Quality, Fish and Game, and Parks and Recreation. It establishes specific spending limits on certain positions, requires agencies to report on remediation projects, and directs money from the Water Pollution Control Fund to environmental remediation and agricultural best management practice funds. The legislation also provides flexibility to reappropriate certain recovery funds, exempts some appropriations from transfer restrictions, and sets up new funds for aquifer planning and flood management while requiring accountability reports on fund usage.
