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LAWMA -Water Rights Purchase
<br />January 22-23, 2008
<br />Agenda Item 11c
<br />Sandy Creek and Two Butte Creek basins and a few members above John Martin Reservoir.
<br />LAWMA membership also includes several municipal and rural domestic water suppliers that rely on
<br />Dakota and Cheyenne aquifer wells that are considered non-tributary and are not subject to the
<br />Arkansas River Use Rules.
<br />LAWMA currently has four loans with the CWCB, as summarized in Table 1 below:
<br />Table 1. Existing CWCB Loans
<br />Loan No. Date of
<br />Contract Original
<br />Loan Terms Current
<br />Balance Annual
<br />Payment Future
<br />Payment
<br />C153715 05/01/1997 $3,688,567 3% - 40 yrs $3,822,033 $122,000(1) $199,184 (2)
<br />C153756 09/18/1997 $ 65,000 3.25% - 10 yrs $ 17,453 $ 9,154 (3) Pay off 2009
<br />C153768 05/28/1997 $2,300,000 3% - 40 yrs $1,841,792 $ 89,297 (5) n/a
<br />C150150 01/01/2004 $2,272,500 2.5% - 30 yrs. $2,113,298 $108,574(6) n/a
<br />Totals $8,326,067 $7,794,576 $329,025 $199,184
<br />(1) Annual payment through May 2007 (2) Annual payment 2008 - 2037
<br />(3) Annual payment through July 2009 (4) Annual payment through 2014
<br />(5) Annual payment 2015 - 2044 (6) Annual payment through 2034
<br />Protect Need - LAWMA's mainstem irrigation pumping averaged 45,463 acre-feet annually from
<br />1997 through 2006, and ranged from 75,569 acre-feet in 1997 to 11,762 acre-feet in 2004. For
<br />planning purposes, it is expected that LAWMA's mainstem irrigation pumping will average about
<br />46,192 acre-feet annually, and should total 28,246 acre-feet in a dry year. The replacement
<br />requirements are a maximum of 20,841 acre-feet annually. (At full allocation LAWMA provides
<br />shareholders 1 acre-foot of replacement water per share.) LAWMA's replacement sources are
<br />estimated to yield approximately 17,939 acre-feet (69% allocation) on an average year and 7,864
<br />(35% allocation) acre-feet of replacement water on a firm annual basis. Given LAWMA's maximum
<br />replacement requirements of 20,841 acre-feet, LAWMA has a need to substantially increase the firm
<br />yield of its water rights portfolio. Therefore, additional replacement water supplies of senior water
<br />rights that can provide consistent amounts of replacement water, even in dry years, and replacement
<br />water sources that can be stored and carried over in John Martin Reservoir, such as the Keesee
<br />water rights, are needed by LAWMA to increase the minimum yield of its portfolio. With the addition
<br />of remaining '/ of the Keesee rights, LAWMA's available replacement water sources will increase to
<br />19,721 acre-feet on an average annual basis, with a firm minimum of 9,085 acre-feet, an increase of
<br />approximately 9.9% and 15.6% respectively.
<br />The average yield of the remaining'/ of the Keesee water rights is estimated to be 1,761 acre-feet
<br />between 1980 through 1994. Acquisition of the remaining '/ of the Keesee water rights, as
<br />proposed herein, would increase the firm yield of LAWMA's portfolio of replacement water sources
<br />by approximately 1,221 acre-feet. More importantly, according to LAWMA's operational study, which
<br />simulates the operation of LAWMA's replacement plan from 1950 through 2006, with owning the
<br />remaining '/ Keesee water rights, the allocation of replacement water would increase by an average
<br />6% overall. On average, this translates into 3,700 acre-feet of additional pumping in these years by
<br />LAWMA shareholders. Acquisition of the remaining '/ of the Keesee water rights is also needed
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