The Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) has denied a motion to halt a curtailment order, forcing groundwater irrigators in the Big Lost and Little Lost basins to shut off their spouts despite already having crops in the ground. The Idaho Ground Water Appropriators (IGWA) have warned that this will be devastating for local agriculture. While all parties have agreed to an expedited technical review to allow these districts to join the 2024 Stipulated Mitigation Plan, IGWA argues that this process could take weeks. The dispute stems from Idaho’s "prior appropriation" doctrine, which states senior water rights holders must get their full allocation of water first, before junior groundwater right holders. The Surface Water Coalition (SWC) has refused to agree to a temporary stay in curtailment if one of its own members, the A&B Irrigation District, is exempt from its own mitigation requirements.