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BOISE • This year marks the start of $15 million in water projects intended to stabilize and amplify Idaho’s water supplies.

The two biggest components in a bill the Legislature passed earlier this year are $4 million to recharge the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, which serves the Magic Valley and the farms that are the backbone of the local economy, plus $4 million to buy water rights to ensure water for Mountain Home Air Force Base.

In addition to the $15 million in one-time funds, the Legislature approved spending $5 million yearly to protect the state’s depleted aquifers, including the Eastern Snake. That general fund money is raised by cigarette taxes.

The $15 million becomes available July 1, said House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley. So does the $5 million in cigarette tax money.

Until then, the Water Resource Board has been doing preparatory work.

On the Eastern Snake, the state is working with A&B Irrigation District to drill a test well near Lake Walcott, already has done testing on state land near Richfield for a potential aquifer recharge site, and is seeking federal permission to build a water pipeline across the Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge, said Brian Patton, planning bureau chief for the Idaho Water Resource Board.