JEROME — The answer is all of the above.

The question: which municipal water uses could be shut off should a district court judge’s opinion on a piece of Idaho water law stand?

That’s one of the tidbits of information roughly 100 Northside residents picked up at a community meeting Monday night. The mayors of Wendell, Jerome, Shoshone and Gooding hosted the event to keep the public informed about the ramifications that water shortages and subsequent litigation could hold for city dwellers. The cities’ leaders say they’re concerned not only about their water rights, but also about surrounding industries’ rights as well.

Cities have some options, said Rob Williams, attorney for Jerome. Besides buying up water rights, in a real pinch, cities could condemn another water user to provide drinking water for residents. That’s not necessarily the case for domestic well users, though.

“I believe the rural domestic well user might be the most vulnerable right now,” Williams said.

In August 2005, several area canal companies and irrigation districts sued the state when they found its response to a call for water delivery lacking. Changes in irrigation practices and increased groundwater pumping in the past 50 years have diminished the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, a Lake Erie-sized underground basin stretching from Ashton to King Hill.

In June, 5th District Court Judge Barry Wood agreed with the surface water users and struck down Idaho’s rules of conjunctive management, which guide how Water Resources administers both ground and surface water. Wood’s ruling strengthened the tenet of Idaho water law called the prior appropriation doctrine. The doctrine ensures that water users with senior rights, usually surface users, get the first shot at water over junior rights-holders in times of shortage.

And Wood stressed that cities and domestic users, who typically hold junior groundwater rights, should be included in curtailment orders.

“The Constitution provides the method for dealing with domestic groundwater uses in times of shortage and ignoring them to the detriment of seniors is not the method,” Wood wrote.

Wood’s ruling is now before the Idaho Supreme Court. The state has asked the court to put Wood’s opinion on hold until it can review the case. If the court doesn’t, then Water Resources could be forced to turn water off to several cities as well about 55,000 acres of farmland.

The four cities estimate the water calls could cut their overall water supply varying between 11 percent in Jerome to 84 percent in Wendell.

Idaho Ground Water Appropriator attorney Mike Creamer hopes the court will recognize the “devastating” economic impact that Wood’s ruling could have. But, he didn’t want groundwater users to panic should that not happen.

“I don’t see that as the end of the world for groundwater users,” he said.

Reporter Michelle Dunlop covers natural resources for the Times-News. She can be reached at 735-3237 or by e-mail at mdunlop@magicvalley.com.