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. . . .' THE LoWER ARKANSAS VALLEY ROTATING LAND FALLOWING-WATER LEASING PROGRAM The purpose of this outline is to give an overview of the proposed rotating land fallowing-water leasing program and the Super Ditch Company that will operate it, under the control of Participating Irrigators. to maximize the short- and long-teoo value of irrigation water in the Lower Arkansas River Vaney. A. Overview. Under the proposal, an. independent Super Ditch Company win be created to lease water. made available from the fallowing of irrigated land. to municipal' .<, d other water users. The program will offer an alternative to the outright sale and transfer of wat"~ ts by irrigators to municipalities. Irrigators drawing water from ditch companies betw and John Martin Reservoirs may participate or not as they individually choose. Irrigafg: 'cipate with 100 percent of their irrigated land, or some lesser percentage. as they individuaIlM~;~hoose:; irrigated by participating ditches may be fallowed on a rotational basis to T~t~l:t;bY4rology, and average years) with lease demands. All participating land will be fallow~.;t!1~'sam~' percentage 0, long teoo, although irrigators will have considerable flexibility to d~!de which land to fallow.' ne. likely lease arrangement, each Participating Irrigator will receive ~;jiili~~ paym~nlfor participating " "":program, plus an additional amount during years in which the irrigatotJl' ,~'1:1'I8Q.d and has no ~toP revenue from that land." ""..' . ':'~,~':h" B. The Idea: The idea behind ilie' bargaining to maximize the value of irrigation decreed for irrigation, stock and incidental dom1!il~, ~tkt. .E~ I. Provid~"mechanisms by ~\i~h,~~ffiga""". ,r ,~ willing to fallow land can lease ":l:<c;l!tr<l'~'>", 'iii;,)~: .;ii:~;I~ '!:!",:,ij{. to municipal or 0 ,,~t:,'" the water" 0 not us~[,during the fallowing periods; and o harness the power of collective . ,er Basin that are presently pany will- -'--' ..... '. '-.--.-. .... ". :.::, <:,~;:~,~;;:;r~\~;;~~~ig~i:'~!f.~l~~'; . C. . The Water Rig ter'flgJli$tto be leased through the Super Ditch Company will be those for ","'-' . , , ' , '. from ......ored on the mainstem of the Arkansas River and its tributaries (exclu~' " or b~I6~;~!!~!>lo Dam and above John Martin Reservoir and located so that water can be ' ".red to rn.~rCipaJities and other water users without prohibitive transit losses. " '" ,r rights will '. the forftl of stock held in ditch and reservoir companies diverting or storing water"'''' e mainstem;llpd its tributaries, including the Bessemer Ditch, Rocky Ford High Line Canal. Oxford , Ditch, ~to Canal. Catlin Canal. Holbrook, Fort Lyon Storage and Fort Lyon Canal- provided"~g is peooitted by the ditch companies' articles of incorporation and bylaws. D. The R cipating Irrigators: The Participating Irrigators will be those irrigators owning ditch and reservoir company stock who voluntarily choose to make available for leasing water they are not using when their lands are fallowed. Participation win be entirely voluntary, so that each irrigator can choose for himself the extent to which he wishes to participate. e.g., 50 percent of his land, if at all~ Participating Irrigators will be required to grant a durable fITSt right of refusal to the Super Ditch Company in case they wish to sell their water in the future. so that the Company can acquire that water to meet its on-going lease obligations to Water Users. Participating Irrigators will be responsible for weed and erosion control on their fallowed land. Peter Nichols 3/1 1/2007