BOISE, Idaho — September 29, 2026 — The Idaho Water Resources Research Institute (IWRRI) has selected a new slate of research projects to help Idaho communities better understand and address pressing water challenges, including drought, water quality, snow monitoring and flood risk. Two projects have been selected to continue from the previous year, while nine new projects will address priorities for the year.
Established in 1964, IWRRI is one of 54 U.S. water research and technology centers. The Institute conducts and directs research to support Idaho’s water-resource needs and those of the Northwest.
The upcoming selected projects once again bring together researchers from the University of Idaho, Boise State University, and Idaho State University. IWRRI’s Research Advisory Committee (RAC) identified and ranked water research needs across the state, and the Institute’s Executive Board gave final approval. This year, the need for a nimble drought working group that can quickly respond to emerging conditions and connect expertise across the state and the region was identified as a priority need. Researchers from all three universities will participate in three areas of focus.
As with research funded by IWRRI last year, the selected projects are designed to provide Idaho water users, communities, and decision-makers with practical information to support water management, infrastructure planning, and long-term resource stewardship.
This year’s projects respond directly to conditions Idaho experienced during Water Year 2026, particularly snow drought and water-supply uncertainty, said while also investing in longer-term water-quality, monitoring and flood-risk needs. – IWRRI Director Kendra Kaiser
Drought Working Group:
Alejandro Flores, Irene Cionni, and James McNamara — Boise State University
Meetpal Kukal, Barrie Robison, and Stephen Austin — University of Idaho
Sarah Godsey and Tao Huang — Idaho State University
The Drought Working Group will produce a statewide assessment of the 2026 drought, Idaho’s first statewide drought emergency since 2001. The assessment will include the causes of drought, effects on water users, and gaps in Idaho’s monitoring systems. Researchers will also build a lasting collection of historical drought data. Their shared findings will be published in one statewide white paper and as publicly accessible, practical information for agencies, water users, and legislators ahead of the spring 2027 water-supply outlook.
Water Quality:
Angel Monsalve, Emily Bedwell, Gregory Moller, Clifford Swanson, and Casey Bartrem — University of Idaho
“From Information to Actions: Enhancing the Usability of Idaho’s Water Quality Data and Statewide Groundwater Arsenic Trend Analysis”
This project continues from FY26, which has built a statewide water quality data inventory. Researchers will examine roughly 20 years of groundwater data to identify where arsenic levels are changing. They will also assess how easily water-quality professionals can find and use Idaho’s broader water-quality data. The project will deliver an analysis reviewed by state agencies and a public data-visualization tool tested with the people who requested it.
Anna Bergstrom — Boise State University and John Kemper — Idaho State University
“Water Quality Impacts of Fire at the Wildland-Urban Interface”
Researchers will measure sediment, nutrients, and E. coli moving from the 2026 Claremont Fire burn area into Boise-area creeks and the lower Boise River. The first-year findings will help the City of Boise and state water-quality managers understand post-fire risks and identify where restoration could be most useful.
Jeff Langman and Eric Aston — University of Idaho
“Zinc Partition Model to Quantify Algal Suppression Factors in Coeur d’Alene Lake”
This project will test a model that estimates how much zinc in Coeur d’Alene Lake is available to affect algae. The results will address an open question about whether decades of mining cleanup are changing algae growth as long assumed. This gives lake managers a defensible way to translate zinc measurements into ecological effects, feeding into the lake’s existing management model.
Water Supply:
Hans-Peter Marshall and Ibrahim Alabi — Boise State University
“Machine Learning Approaches for Evaluating L-band InSAR for Idaho Water Monitoring Applications”
The team will collect a second season of data to test whether a new satellite radar technique (NISAR) can map how much water is stored in Idaho’s mountain snowpack. Researchers will compare satellite measurements with ground and airborne data. If the technique proves reliable, it could provide a more complete picture of snow conditions than fixed monitoring sites alone and improve water-supply forecasts.
Russell Qualls — University of Idaho and Irene Cionni — Boise State University
“Web-Based Snow-Cover Visualization Tools for Water Supply & Drought Assessment and a Validated Statewide SNOTEL Representativeness & Hydrological Utility Index”
Researchers will build a public tool that makes satellite snow-cover images easier to use for Idaho mountain watersheds. They will also assess how well Idaho’s 84 SNOTEL monitoring stations represent snow conditions across surrounding elevations. This is especially important after the 2026 drought pushed the snowline far above where fixed sites can capture it. The resulting statewide map and online tools will help water managers interpret snow conditions and identify where additional monitoring could be most valuable.
Emily Bedwell — University of Idaho
“From Drought Impacts to Decision Support: Co-Developing Irrigation Management Tools for Water Users in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer”
Bedwell will work with irrigators, irrigation districts, canal companies, and state water agencies to identify what drought information they need. Together, they will turn existing data into practical irrigation-planning tools and test whether those tools help people make water-management decisions in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer region.
Water Hazards:
Tao Huang — Idaho State University
“High-Resolution Probabilistic Flood Mapping for High-Hazard Aging Dams in Southeastern Idaho”
Huang will develop detailed flood maps for 10 high-hazard dams in southeastern Idaho using improved terrain data. The maps will show potential flooding under dam-breach scenarios and be made publicly available through IWRRI’s website. The work will support emergency action planning and help communities prepare for infrastructure-related flood risks.
Many of the selected projects build upon IWRRI’s ongoing work to make Idaho water data more accessible and useful. IWRRI’s previous water-quality work, for example, identified stakeholder needs around data access, long-term trends, and monitoring gaps. These are needs that directly inform this year’s water-quality research.
