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M3 Eagle takes water fight to court

The Foothills developer wants a judge to decide if its water right was unfairly rejected.

BY JOE ESTRELLA - jestrella@idahostatesman.com

Copyright: © 2010 Idaho Statesman

Published: 02/23/10


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M3 Eagle General Manager Gerry Robbins said the company hopes to have a hearing by summer on whether the Department of Water Resources was wrong to deny M3's request for the water to fuel a giant residential development north of Eagle.

"We believe the hearing officer made an error, despite the overwhelming evidence we provided that there is adequate storage of water in the underlying aquifer," Robbins said.

The company, which plans to submit a list of issues with the department's decision to the court within 14 days, had argued that an aquifer running under its property is larger than originally thought, extending from the Boise River to the Payette River Valley.

The board ruled against M3's water request last December, finding that granting its request to pump some 15 million gallons of water per day could potentially endanger the economic development of surrounding Treasure Valley communities. Instead, it granted M3 the right to pump 4 cubic feet per second, or 2.6 million gallons of water per day. It would also have the right to store 2.93 cubic feet of water per second for irrigation and firefighting, but that amount would have to come from its daily allocation

The agency subsequently denied the company's request for reconsideration.

M3 had asked that it be allowed to tap 23.18 cubic feet of water per second to supply the 17,000 residents who could one day reside in the 7,153 residences it plans to build, along with 245 acres of shops, offices and a 500-room hotel.

Robbins said the company wanted to ensure that it would have sufficient water available to complete its project.

Jeff Peppersack, chief of the Idaho Department of Water Resources' water allocation bureau, said the department can only wait to see what issues M3 raises in court.

"It's in the hands of the court now," Peppersack said.

Joe Estrella: 377-6465

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