In late May, Idaho Department of Water Resources Director Mathew Weaver issued a curtailment order requiring 6,400 junior groundwater rights holders who pump off the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer to shut off their spigots.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little issued a statement following the order on May 30, "Water curtailment is never desired, but the director must follow Idaho law and the Constitution in issuing this order." Brian Murdock, an East Idaho farmer, said the water curtailment affects 500,000 acres, which equates to roughly 781 square miles of farmland.
"Well, as you said, the state of Idaho and the Idaho Department of Water Resources has issued this curtailment of 500,000 acres. And to help put that in perspective, that's basically 781 square miles of farm ground that is being taken out of production," Murdock told the hosts of Fox News.
The grain and potato farmer continued, "And, of course, the worst problem is this is happening during a very plentiful water year. We have the reservoirs [that] are completely full, and when I mean full, they're dang near breaking. The rivers are running as high as they possibly can. Just trying to keep those dams from breaking." In eastern Idaho, groundwater users with junior water rights breached the 2016 agreement in 2021 and 2022.
Currently, Gov. Little, the lieutenant governor, the Director of Water Resources, and representatives from groundwater and surface water user groups are discussing a new deal.
This is not how Idaho water law, which relies on both "Priority of time" and "The public policy of reasonable use of water," was ever intended to work.
Some X users believe the water curtailment is happening around the time as the governor commissions a new cobalt mining operation in the state.
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