After a drought irrigation season last year and another anticipated drought season this year, Nampa Mayor Debbie Kling has formed the City of Nampa’s Drought Task Force with a goal to develop strategies to educate the community and identify ways to optimize and maximize available irrigation water.
The task force is comprised of a variety of entities including Nampa’s three irrigation districts (Pioneer, Nampa-Meridian and Boise-Kuna Irrigation Districts), Idaho Rural Water Association, Zamzows, Nampa and Vallivue School Districts, local residents, City of Nampa staff and other interested individuals.
All irrigation customers pay for the right to access the water, but it is not a guarantee of how much water will be available. Our water supply is completely depending on conditions outside our control such as temperature, precipitation and snowmelt received.
To best prepare for the anticipated drought season, the community is invited to attend an open house on Thursday, April 7 from 6-8 p.m. at the Nampa Civic Center (311 3rd Street South). Local lawn care expert Jos Zamzow will present a free one-hour class from 6:30-7:30 p.m. and share best practices for ‘building your lawn’s drought muscle’ and answer questions. We invite all interested individuals to attend and encourage each homeowner’s association to send at least one representative to the open house. Developers and landscaping companies are also encouraged to attend.
Mayor Kling shared, “We must all work together to be good stewards of our natural resources. Nampa is fortunate to have a pressurized irrigation system. We greatly appreciate the time and information local organizations and experts have given on the newly formed drought task force to help us extend our irrigation season as long as possible. Let’s all do our part to be water-wise in the Treasure Valley.”
The City of Nampa anticipates releasing more information on the start of irrigation season next week. For additional information, please visit cityofnampa.us/irrigation.
