March 18, 2026
The Icicle Peshastin Irrigation District has not publicly responded to the question of whether it needs any Forest Service permit at Eightmile Lake.
At the March 12 meeting of the Icicle Work Group, the irrigation district predicted that it would complete 90% of its design for the new Eightmile Lake dam by early May. It has also completed its permit application for the new dam, and as soon as its new attorneys have reviewed it, it will file the application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. According to the irrigation district, the Army Corps will conduct an environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Because the dam is on national forest land, someone asked if the Forest Service would also be involved in that NEPA analysis. The meeting chair said the irrigation district did not need to answer that question and it did not.
One interpretation of what the irrigation district did say is that it expects the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct whatever NEPA analysis is required, and its analysis would be in lieu of any Forest Service review. Further, by specifically announcing what it expects the Corps of Engineers to do and mentioning no other permit applications, one could assume that the irrigation district does not intend to apply for any Forest Service permit. The irrigation district has not said this, but if that is in fact its position it would appear to be at odds with the Forest Service's previously stated position that "a road use permit and special use permits for activities on" national forest lands will be necessary.