Water officials in Idaho will not impose curtailments on Snake River water trust users this irrigation season, state leaders announced Thursday, preventing shutoffs that would have affected thousands of agricultural operations across the region.

The decision follows a severe drought in the Snake River Basin this year that threatened to push stream flows below levels required under a decades-old agreement governing the balance between irrigation water and hydroelectric power generation. Gov. Brad Little and Idaho Power reached agreement on the approach after water levels dropped to historically critical levels.

At issue is the 1984 Swan Falls Settlement Agreement, which resolved a long-standing dispute between Idaho Power and the state over water allocation. The agreement established a minimum stream flow of 3,900 cubic feet per second near Swan Falls Dam and created new trust water rights held by individual farmers and irrigation districts across the basin.

This year marked the first time since the agreement took effect that conditions threatened to fall below that minimum flow requirement. In June, the Idaho Department of Water Resources notified more than 4,000 trust water users that curtailment could become necessary if conditions worsened.

Idaho Power officials wrote to Governor Little stating they would not push for water curtailment despite the drought. The governor then asked the Idaho Department of Water Resources to secure stored water from other sources to offset the depleted stream flow, a move he formalized in a June 26 letter to department leadership.

“Under their proposal the Snake River will not run dry of water for trust water right holders this season, but I want to be equally clear that this is a bridge, not a fix,” Governor Little said in a statement. “I support Idaho Power’s proposed approach, and I am grateful for their cooperative outreach.”

The agreement represents a pragmatic solution to a genuine crisis, allowing agricultural users to access water they depend on while maintaining the power company’s ability to operate its facilities responsibly. The governor’s characterization of the measure as temporary underscores the reality that sustained drought conditions pose long-term challenges to Idaho’s water management framework.

Idaho’s agriculture sector remains critical to the state’s economy, with operations ranging from major commodity producers generating record sales to smaller farms and ranches dependent on reliable irrigation. The curtailment threat had raised concerns about crop losses and economic disruption across farm country.

Officials have indicated that more permanent solutions to water management in the Snake River Basin will require additional planning and investment in storage and conservation measures.