MURPHY, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Water Resources sent letters to about 3,300 owners of trust water rights, warning of potential curtailment. Those rights were created in 1984 to balance agricultural and hydroelectric water use.

Officials predict Snake River flows near Murphy could drop below the minimum level of 3,900 cubic feet per second within the next month. If that happens, it would mark the first time summer flows have dropped that low since the 1984 agreement was established.

Hear some of the ways farmers have had to cut back on crops due to lack of water:

Idaho drought pushes Idaho farmers into a corner

If flows fall below that threshold, users could face curtailment — meaning they would be forced to stop diverting surface water and reduce groundwater pumping to comply.

The warning is already a reality for some Magic Valley farmers. Alex Joslin’s operation draws water from the Salmon Falls Tract, which has about 10 days of water left before his season will effectively be over.

“We’re running on about 13% of our water, so yeah, it’s a little tight,” Joslin said.

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Instead of planting his usual crops, Joslin has planted oats as cover crops just to keep the dirt from blowing away.

“This would’ve been alfalfa. The field behind us, there’s a full swing pivot behind us. That would’ve probably been barley or corn, one or the other, depending on how much water we had to work with,” explained Joslin.

He now has a large swath of his land sitting idle.

“Yeah, I have 1,200 acres in oats this year, so there’s a lot of ground that’s just sitting— doing nothing profitable,” Joslin said.

Joslin said only a prolonged stretch of rain could change the outlook for the season.

“If we had two weeks of rain, just move in— that might not even be enough— maybe we need three,” Joslin concluded.

ALSO READ | Idaho farmers face tough choices to keep permanent crops alive during the statewide drought emergency

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