Prohibited from pumping water for over a year, Idaho family farm files lawsuit

Blackfoot, Idaho; September 22, 2026: An Idaho farm family that has worked the same land for generations is suing the Idaho Department of Water Resources (DWR) after spending more than a year largely unable to access the water needed to keep its operation running. Jerry and Valerie Bingham argue that the DWR violated state law and federal law when it ordered them to stop pumping water but allowed more junior users to continue pumping.

“The fundamental principle of western water law is ‘first in time, first in right,’” said Damien Schiff, an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation. “That means the government must either respect the Binghams’ senior water rights or pay them for its refusal to do so. Their lawsuit seeks a return to the lawful, predictable framework Idaho farmers need to steward resources, grow food, and plan for the future.”

In Idaho, state law establishes a priority system for water rights, allowing senior users with longer-standing claims to access water before junior users, and requiring the government to impose limits on junior users before senior users. Despite that law, in July 2025, the DWR ordered every ground water user in the Eastern Snake River Basin whose claim originated after 1900 to stop pumping water, unless they agreed to a water mitigation plan or joined a water district.

The Binghams presented five proposed water mitigation strategies to the DWR. None have been accepted.

Represented at no cost by Pacific Legal Foundation, the Binghams filed a lawsuit arguing that the DWR violated state law by not respecting the priority of their water rights and by taking those rights in violation of federal law.

The case is Bingham v. Idaho Department of Water Resources.

Photography by Rick Wenner.