June 3, 2024
IDWR Issues Unprecedented Order Curtailing Widespread ESPA Ground Water Users
On May 30, 2024, the Director of the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) issued a Final Order Curtailing Ground Water Rights Junior to March 31, 1954 (Curtailment Order) as part of his administration of the ongoing Surface Water Coalition (SWC) delivery call. While not the first of its kind, this Curtailment Order is significantly more wide-reaching and controversial than any prior order, primarily due to two recent developments: (1) the Director’s switch from using “steady-state” to “transient” modeling to determine curtailment dates; and (2) several Ground Water Districts’ (Districts) refusals to comply with a 2016 Mitigation Plan that otherwise protects the farmer-patrons of those Districts from curtailment … Read More
Written by Maximilian C. Bricker