Idaho Water Director Temporarily Lifts Curtailment Order for Most Butte County Farmers Through May 4
Why It Matters
For farmers in Butte County, the difference between water and no water right now is the difference between a crop and a total loss. With a dry, warm spring already stressing fields across the Big Lost River and Little Lost River Basins, the temporary lifting of a state curtailment order is giving Idaho growers a critical two-week window to keep their operations alive.
The decision affects members of groundwater districts in both basins who are in the process of joining a state mitigation plan — farmers who say the timing of the original order threatened to wipe out their entire growing season before negotiations could be completed.
What Happened
Idaho Department of Water Resources Director Mat Weaver lifted a curtailment order affecting Butte County farmers in the Big Lost River and Little Lost River Basins, allowing irrigation to continue through May 4. The temporary reprieve applies specifically to farmers who are members of the groundwater districts currently seeking to join the 2024 Mitigation Plan.
The decision came after a joint request was submitted to Weaver on Friday afternoon by two groups that are traditionally at odds — the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators (IGWA) and the Surface Water Coalition (SWC). Their rare cooperation signaled a significant shift in tone after weeks of legal and regulatory tension.
The curtailment order had originally remained in place after Weaver declined on Thursday to lift it. That decision accelerated talks between the two irrigator groups, pushing attorneys and representatives from both sides to find a workable path forward. By Friday, they had jointly asked the director to grant the two-week extension to allow good-faith negotiations to continue.
Those negotiations center on whether the three groundwater districts in Butte County will be formally accepted into the 2024 Mitigation Plan — a process the farmers began pursuing late last summer.
In Their Words
Stephanie Mickelsen, Chairwoman of the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators, described the urgency facing farmers on the ground. “Those farmers out there — those growers — had their crops dying on the vine because it’s been a very dry, warm spring, and they have very rocky, kind of shallow soil,” she said. “So for them, this is the critical time where they may not end up with a crop if we don’t get this resolved.”
Mickelsen also explained why the process of joining the mitigation plan took time, noting that farmers first had to establish a groundwater district, hire legal counsel, and satisfy public notice requirements. “All of this takes time because you have to have public notices and all those kind of legal requirements met in order to do that,” she said.
Surface Water Coalition Attorney Travis Thompson pointed to the collaborative spirit behind the joint request. “Just some real hard work on both sides — attorneys getting together and trying to find a path forward for some negotiations to continue that dialogue,” Thompson said. He described the two weeks ahead as an opportunity to “continue to meet and discuss those and try and reach a resolution.”
By the Numbers
- May 4 — the date through which the curtailment order has been lifted
- 2 weeks — the window granted for continued good-faith negotiations
- 3 groundwater districts in the Big Lost River and Little Lost River basins seeking to join the 2024 Mitigation Plan
- Late summer 2024 — when Butte County farmers first began the process of applying to join the plan
Zoom Out
Water rights disputes have been a defining challenge across Idaho’s agricultural communities for years, pitting surface water users against groundwater appropriators in battles that can determine whether farms survive dry seasons. The conflict in Butte County is part of a broader pattern playing out across the state as drought conditions strain Idaho’s water management systems.
Idaho regulators have also been scrutinizing aquifer health in other parts of the state. Earlier this year, the state paused new groundwater rights in Canyon County as officials studied aquifer conditions — a sign that water resource pressures are intensifying statewide. The Surface Water Coalition and groundwater districts had also sought an emergency stay on the Butte County curtailment before Friday’s joint resolution moved the situation in a different direction.
What’s Next
Both IGWA and SWC representatives have committed to continued negotiations over the next two weeks with the goal of reaching a formal agreement on the three groundwater districts’ entry into the 2024 Mitigation Plan. If a resolution is reached before May 4, farmers could see longer-term water access secured ahead of the critical summer growing season. If negotiations stall, the curtailment order could be reimposed — leaving Butte County growers back at square one with crops already under stress.
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