Butte County farmers face possible water shutoffs amid curtailment enforcement
Par Kermani
BUTTE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — Some Idaho farmers could be at risk of losing water, as the state begins enforcing curtailments this spring.
Under Idaho’s “prior appropriation” doctrine, water rights operate on a strict priority system: “first in time, first in right.” Senior rights holders (those with the oldest claims) receive their full allocation first, while junior users run the risk of being shut off entirely during dry years.
This year, low snowpack and early demand are putting that system to the test, forcing the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) to issue curtailment orders earlier than expected.
The current curtailment orders center on the Big Lost and Little Lost River basins. Following the passage of Senate Bill 1341 in 2024, water users in these areas were required to join a mitigation plan to avoid shutdowns. They were given about 16 months to comply, with that deadline taking effect in November of 2025.
State officials say enforcement is already underway. According to a recent IDWR press release, agents will begin checking groundwater users in the field this spring to ensure compliance. Those who are not part of an approved mitigation plan could have their wells curtailed or “red-tagged.”
According to Water Rights Attorney Thomas J. Budge, the transition has been anything but smooth.
“This year, the Big Lost and Little Lost basins have been brought in by the Department of Water Resources,” Budge explained. “Their water rights are now subject to curtailment unless they participate in a mitigation plan. Earlier this year, those districts asked to join the existing 2024 plan.”
The 2024 mitigation plan is designed to let groundwater users keep pumping, but only if they reduce their water use or replace it through storage and recharge.
But to join the plan, all parties have to agree, and that’s where the process has stalled.
Currently, Budge says the Surface Water Coalition—representing senior water users—has refused to sign the addendum that would allow the Big and Little Lost basins to join. Without that signature, the IDWR cannot lift the curtailment orders.
“Because of that, the Department of Water Resources still has curtailment orders in effect in the Big Lost and the Little Lost basins,” Budge said. “Those farmers are just very concerned. It was a really hot, dry March, and their crops need water, and they’re under curtailment.”
Budge who is representing groundwater users filed a motion asking the state to approve the addendum.
According to Budge “After I filed that Friday, the department promptly issued a notice requiring the parties to come to a status conference on Wednesday of this week. And the purpose of that status conference is to ask why the Surface Water Coalition has refused to sign the addendum.” he said “And, our hope is that the director, approves the addendum and lifts the curtailment so that the farmers and the big lost and the little lost basins can, irrigate their crops.
State officials say time is critical. A status conference is scheduled this week, as irrigation season has already begun in some of the affected basins and curtailment remains an “imminent outcome” if no resolution is reached.
The Idaho Department of Water Resources is expected to make a decision later this week.