(January 22, 2024, 8:14 AM EST) -- BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that the state Department of Water Resources and its director did not err in initiating a proceeding to determine whether there was enough water in an aquifer to meet junior groundwater rights, in concluding that the state’s Conjunctive Management of Surface and Ground Water Resources (CM Rules) did not apply to the proceedings, in finding that the proceeding did not violate the state’s prior appropriation doctrine and in finding that objecting groundwater districts were not denied due process in challenging the proceeding....