Early in his term Idaho Gov. Butch Otter was close to being forced by water law to send in the National Guard to make farmers dry up tens of thousands of acres.

Drought and a dispute over the water in the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer pitted the farmers who irrigated their crops with groundwater against trout farmers who used springs that flowed from the aquifer. The trout farmers had earlier water rights and therefore they were superior.

So unless the groundwater-pumping farmers could come up with an alternative, the fish farmers had first call on the water that was irrigating hundreds of millions of dollars of crops a year. Since then a series of court cases, a lot of talks between the users, and the purchase of the Pristine Springs hatchery in 2008 reduced the conflict.

Otter told the Idaho Press Club this morning the Pristine Springs sale resolved many of the senior right holder’s demands. That prevented drying up 30,000 acres when the pumpers agreed to pay back an Idaho Water Board $11 million loan to free up 10 cubic feet per second of spring flows.

Now the purchase of the Idaho Trout Co. and its water rights next month will complete the transactions that the Otter administration can consider one of the major accomplishments of his governorship. He did this without appointing a director of water resources to run the agency that most observers consider is understaffed and under funded.

The acting director Gary Spackman has served in this position since 2009. Otter told the press before the session he planned to fill the position with a permanent director this year, saying the Water Board wanted a role in the hiring.

The final issue is resolving a dispute of some Upper Snake River Valley farmers who believe the state should pay them for the incidental recharge that happens when they run water in their canals. Otter said he doesn’t think they should be paid, a view of most water lawyers and many downstream farmers who would be forced to pay.

Otter said despite strong area support, rebuilding of the Teton Dam was “problematic.” Instead he talked about adding six feet to existing dams in the state so their reservoir could hold more water as a storage solution.

And he pitched the reporters on the value of building Galloway Dam on the flood-prone Weiser River. On top of reducing floods the water could be used to flush salmon down the Snake and because it’s colder water Otter said it could help Idaho Power meet temperature limits designed to help salmon.

“I think a lot of good tings could happen with that,” he said.

But he acknowledged that would put a lot of private property under water. And he didn’t come up with any ideas for paying for it.