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July 13, 2007 <br />Page 5 <br />Legislative Creation of a Salvage Water Credit <br />Without limiting the available alte rnatives, an option for consider ation by the task force would <br />be a legislative proposal to allo w the creation of a salvage water credit that could be claimed by <br />persons who reduce naturally occurring consump tive uses like evaporation, sublimation, or <br />evapotranspiration associated with phreatophyte s. The countervailing policy considerations <br />outlined in the Shelton Farms decision should be carefully asse ssed. Possible provisions of such <br />legislation could include: <br />Creation of appropriate district authorities with right to condemn on a sel ective basis, as <br />suggested by Justice Day in Shelton Farms ; <br />Total or partial credit for salvage. For example, the salvager could claim a percentage of <br />the water made available, while the remainde r accrued to the stream for use by senior <br />priorities; <br />Credit only for salvage of water that was never historically av ailable to senior <br />appropriators (consistent with th e “water thieves” reasoning of Shelton Farms , but <br />contrary to the more e xpansive rule announced in R.J.A., Inc. ); <br />“Target” incentives based on particular resource objectives. For example a special <br />salvage credit could be created for removal of tamarisk (salt cedar); <br />Environmental review process to protect other resource valu es such as native vegetation, <br />wildlife habitat, and soil conservation. <br />3734522_6.DOC <br />