204469 NOTICE OF A&B IRRIGATION DISTRICT'S STIPULATED INTERIM MITIGATION PLAN FOR 2026 AND 2027 SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THE SURFACE WATER COALITION WATER DELIVERY CALL Notice is hereby given that on March 24, 2026, A&B Irrigation District ("A&B"), Burley Irrigation District, Milner Irrigation District, North Side Canal Company, and Twin Falls Canal Company, through their counsel Travis L. Thompson and Abby R. Bitzenburg, PO Box 63, Twin Falls, ID 83303-0063, and American Falls Reservoir District 2 and Minidoka Irrigation District, through their counsel Norman M. Semanko and Garrett M. Kitamura, 800 W Main St, Boise, ID 83702, submitted a 2026-2027 Interim Stipulation ("Interim Plan") to the Idaho Department of Water Resources ("Department"), attached to a joint motion to approve the Interim Plan. The Interim Plan is intended to define A&B's mitigation obligation for the Surface Water Coalition ("SWC") Water Delivery Call during the 2026 and 2027 Irrigation seasons. Interim Plan ¶ 1. The SWC Delivery Call is administered by the Department and watermasters of state water districts who administer ground water rights within the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer ("ESPA"). The SWC consists of irrigation water delivery entities with senior surface water rights diverted from the Snake River above Milner Dam. The SWC members include all the parties to the Interim Plan referenced above, inclusive of A&B. A&B holds ground water rights within a portion of the ESPA that are junior in priority to the SWC's senior priority Snake River water rights. The Interim Plan seeks to provide A&B "safe harbor from the delivery call for its groundwater use pursuant to its water rights for the 2026 and 2027 irrigation seasons" in exchange for stipulated mitigation activities. Interim Plan ¶ 4. The Interim Plan proposes two ways that A&B will mitigate injury to the SWC members. First, A&B will continue to deliver surface water to approximately 3,574 acres previously irrigated with ground water. Interim Plan ¶ 2. Second, for the 2026 and 2027 irrigation seasons, A&B will "deliver and assign" 120 acre-feet of storage water to the SWC, via private lease from A&B's storage, to "be assigned as directed by the SWC . . . ." Id. ¶ 4. In exchange for these mitigation actions, A&B seeks to avoid curtailment under the SWC delivery call during the 2026 and 2027 irrigation season regardless of the magnitude of the impacts of its junior ground water pumping on the SWC's water supplies. The Department will process the Interim Plan under the Department's CM Rules (IDAPA 37.03.11). A complete copy of the Interim Plan is available for review at the following website link: https://idwr.idaho.gov/legal-actions/ mitigation-plan-actions/SWC/abi-2026/. This notice does not represent analysis or approval of the proposed plan by the Department. Protests against approval of the Interim Plan must be filed with the Department, together with a protest fee of $25, on or before May 11, 2026. Rule 53 of the Department's Rules of Procedure (IDAPA 37.01.01.053) outlines how documents may be filed with the Department and when they are considered filed. A copy of the Rules of Procedure may be obtained at the following website link: https://adminrules.idaho.gov/rules/current/ 37/370101.pdf. The protest must include a certificate of service showing that a copy of the protest has been mailed or delivered personally to counsel for A&B and the SWC. Mathew Weaver, Director Published in the Idaho Statesman, Mountain Home News, Idaho Mountain Express, Post Register & Idaho State Journal on April 22nd & 29th, 2026; Times News & Lewiston Tribune on April 23rd & 30th, 2026; and Rexburg Standard Journal on April 24th & May 1st, 2026.