A water settlement agreement and mitigation plan reached late last year protects groundwater districts from water shutoffs as part of a new curtailment order the state issued Friday, state officials said.

But any Idaho ground water users who are not part of a groundwater district and are not participating in an approved plan need to immediately join a district to avoid having their water shut off, state officials said.

Late Friday afternoon, the Idaho Department of Water Resources announced that Director Mathew Weaver signed an updated curtailment order for groundwater users who pump off the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer and hold water rights issued more recently than — or junior to — Oct. 11, 1900.

However, the 2024 water settlement agreement and mitigation plan that farmers reached agre

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