TWIN FALLS - With curtailment breathing down the necks of groundwater pumpers, the question of how the Idaho Department of Water Resources intends to enforce its order begs asking.

The agency can't lock head gates as it could with surface users. Nor can it keep tabs on every pumper or pull fuses on every pump.

What it can do is monitor through technology and promise penalties if pumpers violate the order, said Phil Rassier, deputy attorney general for IDWR.

"Given the large number of rights and manpower available" physical monitoring isn't possible, he said. "Our main way of monitoring is through remote sensing."

Rassier said the agency has access to satellite technology that could zero in on fields and monitor whether crops are being irrigated.

"That would take a lot of effort by the staff," he admitted.

As for stock-water use, such as on dairies, IDWR public information officer Bob McLaughlin said, "Hopefully, the dairymen will submit a mitigation plan and we won't have to broach the subject. But we would do a drive-by or a physical inspection. We have the right to do that in the statute."

If a water user is found to be diverting water without authority, Idaho law gives the water director means to enforce the curtailment order, he added.

First would come official notification to the violator, either in person or by certified mail. If he notified the department within 14 days, he would be entitled to a compliance conference to explain the circumstances or present a proposal for remedying the damage and assuring future compliance.

If the irrigator decided not to take that route, the director could bring civil enforcement actions. If the irrigator were found in court to be in violation, he would get a penalty fine.

"For irrigation, it's a maximum of $300 an acre per year," Rassier said.

Might it be worth that fine to a grower to get his crop harvested? "If they have a high-value crop, it might," Rassier said.

But the law also gives the director authority to order the violator to cease and desist, and that could bring a $100 fine each day he continues to illegally divert water.

The curtailment on groundwater pumpers stems from a water call by senior surface water right holders Blue Lakes Trout Farm and Clear Springs Foods in 2005. The June 15 order from IDWR Director David Tuthill covers 591 water rights and more than 16,638 acres in the Thousand Springs area, fewer than the 771 water rights on 33,000 acres discussed when Tuthill announced a proposed curtailment in April.

The order goes into effect July 6.

McLaughlin on Thursday afternoon said the agency had not yet received mitigation plans to avoid curtailment by two groups proposing such agreements. The Idaho Dairymen's Association has until Tuesday to submit a plan, and the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators have until Friday.

Carol Ryan Dumas is editor of Ag Weekly; contact her at 735-3221 or carol.dumas@lee.net.