Agreement lifts east Idaho water curtailment, saves nearly 300,000 acres of farmland

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A deal has been reached that will end a water curtailment in Eastern Idaho that threatened to dry up more than 300,000 acres of farmland.

As CBS2 has previously reported, water issues in Idaho can be complex. The problem stems from an out-of-date agreement dating back to 2016, one that has not kept up with the growing demands and changing landscape of Idaho farmers.

Eastern Idaho farmers who rely on groundwater for the crops they have already planted were threatened with a curtailment by the Idaho Department of Water Resources after nine groundwater districts drew more water than the agreement allotted, affecting surface water users who have a senior water claim in the Magic Valley.

According to a statement from the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators, a mitigation agreement for 2024 has been submitted to IDWR, and once approved will lift the curtailment for all nine groundwater districts. The agreement, which Governor Little and Lt. Governor Bedke brokered, will aid farmers who have been sweating over the curtailment for more than a month.

The agreement aids farmers this year, but without a significant overhaul to Idaho's water management farmers, and Idaho's economy could be in the same place next year.

We have learned that the way the Idaho Department of Water Resources currently goes about managing the ESPA is not working,” said IGWA chairwoman Stephanie Mickelsen. “Without meaningful change to how water resources are managed over the coming months, we will find ourselves right back in this same position and all of Idaho will end up paying the price. We look forward to working with state leaders to chart a path that is in the best interest of the state moving forward.

Future agreements will have to address groundwater users, surface water users, and the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, and all of that will need to be in place before the next growing season, or Idaho farmers will be right back where they started.

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