150 S 4th E St
Mountain Home, ID 83647
Mountain Home, ID 83647
Periodically, Elmore County representatives provide updates regarding the County’s water development efforts to local leaders and members of the public at Water Advisory Group meetings. The next meeting will take place on _____. All meetings are held at the Farm Bureau building at 1010 Sunset Strip in Mountain Home. If you are interested in learning more about the County’s efforts, please attend the next meeting.
The Mountain Home Plateau Aquifer, extending westward across southern Elmore County into Ada County, provides municipal supply to the City of Mountain Home and Mountain Home Air Force Base, along with irrigation, commercial, domestic and industrial supplies to farms, dairies, and other businesses in Elmore County.
In addition to groundwater from the aquifer, other water supplies on the Mountain Home Plateau are Snake River water pumped for irrigation of farms, Little Camas Reservoir water conveyed to the area by the Mountain Home Irrigation District from the South Fork Boise River watershed, and water from creeks that flow onto the Plateau from the Danskin Mountains and Bennett Hills.
Snake River at CJ Strike Reservoir
Groundwater levels in the Mountain Home Plateau Aquifer have been declining in portions of the County for more than 40 years, prompting declaration of the Cinder Cone Butte Critical Groundwater Area in 1981 and the Mountain Home Ground Water Management Area in 1982.
The water table has fallen 100 feet or more in some locations. The decline in aquifer water levels threatens the existing economy and for many years has been a severe constraint on economic growth. Without some sort of action, wells will continue to go dry and existing water uses will be curtailed.
The Elmore County Commissioners recently conducted a survey to understand the community’s current understanding of the water issues in the region and the level of support for potential solutions. More than 1,145 people participated in the survey between March through December of 2023. You can view the community’s responses in the two reports below.
Management and administration of groundwater on the Mountain Home Plateau is influenced by four designated areas.
There have been a number of investigations and published reports of groundwater conditions within Elmore County.
Summary of Canyon Creek Recharge Project – Spring 2017 (IDWR Open File Report)
2017 – Water Supply Alternatives Study (SPF Water Engineering)
2013 East Ada County Comprehensive Hydrologic Investigation (IDWR Technical Report)
1994 – Summary of Groundwater Conditions in the Mountain Home and Cinder Butte Areas (IDWR Open File Report)
1970 – Groundwater Resources of Southern Ada and Western Elmore County, Idaho (IDWR WIB#15)
1968 – Groundwater Resources of the Mountain Home Area, Elmore County, Idaho (IDWR WIB#4)
South Fork Boise River
This link also provides a place for public input and inquiry. We encourage everyone to fill out the public comment section.
January 10, 2023
July 21, 2022
July 8, 2021
July 2, 2021
February 17, 2021
April 3, 2019
Apr 2, 2019
Feb. 6, 2019
Anderson Ranch Reservoir