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2-8 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I (Director) is to consider Idaho's need for water and available water supply, among other factors.'" All three of the local rental pools have adopted what is known as the ''last to fill" rule. Under this rule, space in reservoirs representing water rented from the pools for uses outside of the water district is the last space to refill!' The rule is intended to protect other water rights holders from being injured if the system does not fill the year following the rentaI.:14 The rental pools in Water Districts 1 and 6S require the express written consent of the lessor to rent water for out-of-district water use." In 1991, Idaho Power Company (!PC), acting as an agent for Bonneville Power Company, purchased water from the Upper Snake Bank and moved the water. downstream and out of state to help meet target flows for salmon. Upon learning of this use, the Director contacted !PC and notified them that such use violated state water law." As a result, in 1992, the Idaho Legislature provided interim authority (expiring January 1, 1996) for the rental of storage water to augment Lower Snake River flows "'Idaho Code U 42.1763 and 42-401(3) (1990 and Supp. 1993). These standards also apply to the rental pools. Id. at f 42-1765. "Water District 1 and 63 Rules, at rule 3.6; Water District 65 Rules, at rule 3.5. :I4gee Rental Repon, at 17. The repon suggests the rule is for the protection of senior water rights holders, but it would more clearly operate to protect juniors since senior space would be the first to filL "District 1 and 65 Rules, at rule 3.7. Hydrologic considerations dictate this distinction in Water District 1. for uses below Milner Dam. As a result of the history of Irrigation development in the upper basin, the only significant flows of water below Milner Dam today typically occur during the non-Irrigation season. During . the summer (Irrigation) months, the river is generally dried up at Milner and for about a mile below. Return flows from the ujlstream Irrigation use contnllute millions of acre feet of water to the Snake River Plain aquifer, significantly raising the groundwater table and increasing discharges into the Snake River below Milner Dam at Thousand Springs. As a result, the Snake River in Idaho has been viewed and managed as two separate river systems, one above Milner and the other below. See Jeffrey C. Fereday and Michael C. Creamer, "Swan FaIls in 3-0: A New Look at the Historical, Legal and PracticaI Dimensions of Idaho's Biggest Water Rights Controversy," 28 Idaho 1- Rev. 574, 582-83 (1992). USee Stephen Steubner, "Idaho Water Chiefs Statement Dampens Plan for Release," The Idaho Statesman (Sept 13, 1991); and Rental Repon, at 17, referring to a letter from Keith Higginson dated Sept 5, 1991.