Farmers in Idaho face water shortages after Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) began restricting water flow to over 500,000 acres land. Farmers are unable to irrigate their crops due to the May 31 curtailment impacting six ground water districts. If the water is not turned off it could result in fines of $300/acre.
The proposed purpose of the mitigation plan is to restore water levels at the end of the growing in season in order to prevent further dwindling of the aquifers water supply. However this would cause eastern Idaho farmers to lose 12,000 acre-feet of water this year. It is likely that this will have serious consequences for Idaho agricultural production and could cost millions of dollars in lost farming revenue.
Last year, the curtailment never went into effect due to a new methodology that changed how the water calculations were performed. According to the calculations done last year, there wasn’t a shortfall and no curtailment was necessary.
The costs of government mismanagement and miscalculations will be very high in the state of Idaho. $11.7 Billion dollars in agricultural revenue was generated in Idaho in 2022. This accounts for approximately 20% of all sales in Idaho. Therefore, it is essential that the acquifer levels are measured accurately in order to ensure continued prosperity and food production.
