August 29, 2026
Are we being manipulated?
“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”
-U.S. President Ronald Reagan
There has been a large amount of noise and misleading information discussed online and in public meetings regarding the need for Farmer’s Union to take wastewater from Eagle Sewer District. We often hear that Farmer’s Union would have been better off in 2026 if it only had wastewater from Eagle Sewer District. Using public information and a little bit of math, we provide a summary of the facts so that you can decide for yourself.
On March 24, 2026, Farmer’s Union Ditch Board President Corey Blaine did an interview with local News Channel 6. Here is my impression of the news report and you can watch the entire interview here. The story reports that Mr. Blaine told the local news station that water delivery from Farmer’s Union Canal would start at 80%. He was supported during the interview by former Farmer’s Union Board member Bert Browen (for those who may have forgotten, Mr. Browen and Mr. Blaine participated in dragging the community into the current Eagle Sewer wastewater deal). Both of these supposed ‘water experts’ created fear and tension in the community by outlining that the ditch would start low, run at a reduced capacity and then shut off early. They also showed their support for the agreement by noting that wastewater from Eagle Sewer District would help to solve these types of water issues.
By reviewing publicly available information, we are able to provide facts and context to the misleading statements of the current Farmer’s Union Board President and a former Board member.
To start, a little bit of context and history is important. Farmer’s Union Ditch Company takes its water at a diversion point near the Whitewater park in Boise.
The amount of water diverted is directed by District 63 which manages diversions along the Boise River. https://www.wd63.org/
During the irrigation season, Farmer’s Union receives a portion of its water as ‘natural flow’ and a portion from storage. At the start of each year, 100% of the water entering the canal is from natural flow. Based on comments from the District 63 watermaster, during the beginning of the season, no storage water is being used and the ditch is operating at a normal capacity using Boise River water. As natural water levels decrease in the Boise basin, the watermaster issues various ‘decrees’ during the summer. Each decree is targeted to specific water rights and requires irrigation users to move off ‘natural flow’ and begin to use storage water.
To start the 2026 irrigation season, Farmer’s Union had 18,122 acre feet of storage water. In comparison, 2025’s irrigation season had 17,188 acre feet and 2024 had 17,085 acre feet. This storage is a combination of current year water held in the various dams and unused storage water that was carried over from the prior year. During the 2026 irrigation season, Farmer’s Union used only ‘natural flow’ until July 3 rd , 2026. This means no storage water was used and the ditch was able to operate at normal capacity from April through June. For example, the water flowing in the canal on June 15 2026 was 114 cfs (cubic feet per second). It was 117 cfs on the same day in 2025 and 105 cfs on June 15, 2024. Clearly the canal was operating without reductions during the first part of the irrigation season.
On July 4, 2026, Farmer’s Union received its decree and began to use a mix of storage water and natural flow, based on its water rights. For comparison, Farmer’s Union received its decree and began to use storage water on June 30, 2025 and July 3, 2024. Again, clearly the ditch was operating under what appear to be normal conditions for when the canal begins to use storage water.
Throughout July 2026, the ditch operated around 117 cfs per day. For comparison it operated around 123 cfs during both July 2025 and July 2024. This shows a slight reduction during 2026, but nothing near the forecasted 80% reduced flow as warned by Mr. Blaine and Mr. Browen (and repeated by Eagle Sewer board members during public conversations).
The District 63 watermaster recently posted that the flows on August 24 th were 121 cfs. This compares to 121 cfs on August 24, 2025 and 110 cfs on August 28, 2024.
The storage water held by Farmer’s Union shows a more surprising picture. On August 24, 2026, Farmer’s Union retained 10,509 acre feet of storage. On the same date in 2025 it had 8,981 acre feet and 8,892 in 2024. This means there is currently more than 1,500 acre feet of additional unused water storage when compared to the same date in the two prior years.
Now that you know the facts, you should question why leaders in our community made a strong push for a different narrative. When you hear people repeat the “alarm” of a water shortage in the canal, you should question who is behind the information and what are their motives. Who is pushing us to make a decision that will poison our family and lands based on fear and not facts? What do these people and organizations working behind the scenes benefit from this?
Are we being manipulated?
-A Concerned Group of Farmer’s Union Shareholders
https://idwr.idaho.gov/wr-administration/water-rights-accounting/wd63/
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