Construction on the last project land area to be developed, North Side Pumping Division, began in 1948 and was completed in 1959. The Palisades Reservoir, while not a part of the Minidoka Project, contributes greatly to the project's success by storing excess flows for later release and by increasing the available power supply. All storage and power facilities are operated by the Bureau of Reclamation. There are over a million irrigated acres in the and Snake River valley of southern Idaho. Much of the famed Idaho potato crop is grown in this valley, and sugar beets, dry beans, sweet corn, field grains, alfalfa hay, and irrigated pasture diversify the land use.
Cattle raising and dairying are important industries.
The reservoirs of the Minidoka Project were designed originally to provide for distribution of spring runoff through the irrigation season, rather than to provide for carryover storage for years of low streamflows. The addition of Palisades Reservoir provides not only holdover storage, but also an increased measure of flood control over the river. Sufficient vacant space is maintained in Jackson Lake and Palisades Reservoir on a forecast basis to prevent flows on the Snake River near Heise from exceeding 20,000 cubic feet per second. The flood control operation is carried out under formal agreement with the Corps of Engineers. The five project reservoirs provide 36,194 acres of land and 101,554 acres of water surface, with 319 miles of shoreline for recreational use.