BURLEY, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) – Here in Idaho, talks over water rights continue as time runs out for an agreement.

On August 22, Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke attended a meeting in Burley to discuss this issue.

Business Plus held its third quarter meeting to talk about Idaho water, focusing exclusively on problems, solutions and alternatives.

In recent years, world leaders have invested more than half a billion dollars to improve water quality and quantity.

The issue of water rights was raised again earlier this year when the Department of Water Resources issued an order restricting water rights to farmers in eastern Idaho.

State law protects the water rights of downstream users, but the agreement was last updated in 2015.

Today, many community members came together to talk about water rights and voice their concerns.

The meeting featured many speakers, including Brian Olmstead of the Idaho Water Resource Board and Lieutenant Governor Bedke.

“Everyone is rightly concerned about the water problem. But I am very optimistic that in a week or two we will be able to announce that we have succeeded in creating a water plan that we can all rely on for the next decade or so,” said Lieutenant Bedke.

The deadline for a new water rights proposal is September 1st, and the deadline for completion is October 1st.

If no new agreement is reached by then, the federal government could intervene.

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