By Meg Wolf, Assistant Director for the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute
The Idaho Water Resources Research Institute (IWRRI) has been busy this summer engaging with water users, water scientists, and water managers across the state. IWRRI is one of the nation’s 54 water research and technology centers. In this role, IWRRI conducts and directs research to support the water resource needs of Idaho, the Northwest region, and the nation.
IWRRI also plays a role in facilitating, participating in, and developing innovative education and outreach programs that share research-based information with water managers, agency and governmental scientists, and the public. From our office in Coeur d’Alene, the work includes regional support of The Confluence Project (a hands-on research based high school water science curriculum), the Our Gem Collaborative, the Stormwater Erosion & Education Program (SEEP), and the Bay Watchers program.
Through community outreach, student research projects, and ongoing discussions with partners, IWRRI identified the need to compile Idaho’s water research needs in one place. This effort took a year to complete and culminated this summer with the release of Idaho’s Water Research Priorities for 2025. The full 2025 Water Research Report is available on our website at iwrri.uidaho.edu/research.
The process of highlighting Idaho’s most pressing water research needs was both collaborative and intensive. Over the past year, more than 90 Idaho water research projects have been cataloged. Developing a clear, synthesized priority list was a significant undertaking. To accomplish this, IWRRI convened its inaugural Research Advisory Committee, a group of 32 experts from across Idaho representing state and federal agencies, tribal governments, universities, utilities, conservation groups, municipalities, and industry. The committee brought a wide range of expertise, including hydrology, ecology, agriculture, engineering, and policy. Their goals were to:
- Identify Idaho’s most pressing water challenges and research needs.
- Generate and review a wide array of water research project proposals.
- Evaluate projects based on relevance, community impact, feasibility, political considerations, and geographic equity.
- Prioritize projects for near-term funding while identifying ideas for long-term development.
Our full report outlines the major challenges shaping Idaho’s water research needs and explains how the committee selected priorities for the coming year. These priorities range from advancing our understanding of Idaho’s groundwater resources to developing new data synthesis and visualization tools that support water management.
A request for proposals to faculty across Idaho’s universities is the next step in addressing the 2025 Idaho Water Research Priorities. We look forward to collaborating with researchers statewide to develop actionable and impactful projects. IWRRI will continue working with the Research Advisory Committee to identify additional opportunities for partnerships, consider phased and multi-year projects, and collect information to develop the 2026 Idaho Water Research Priorities. Visit our website iwrri.uidaho.edu and “Subscribe” if you wish to stay updated. We will continue to share on the progress of these efforts as projects launch this fall and further our understanding of the dynamic and complex world of water in our beautiful state.
