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ar,~ iritiati~ ~ ti:ttt local jurisdictions are ~~~il[ir_g to tse to solve a E erv pres:~in~~ 1~robl~in ~:r.L ~I°~ ~.ibc•~.I}id~,i' " roc- tlai~ t~.~li::~•s. sia:~:~~ u;::i~.: ,io~:iw:e~ u:~:il a.L i' ;~ C=I3 i, e~:a~l~~ to s ~ 5 :Jl °. t~~ E:'11~i ~t:L:. aI'I;~.C~_ t' _r~ LE'1111.1;• :i .i11a:. .:Z~ ..~:~~iil ...•. ~. S)+l't•`,' ..r:~.l ~:IJIE~ t'rli:;7.:'S:'i r:'L~iii'.:iC:s~ ll+''i;~. ~~i'.~~~1:;'.it ~t.I:.t: 2~i:I:l~ln`-? ~!1 assist iti the prc~c;ess? P~VSD belie~~es that it ht~ demonstrated a strottg contmitrtent to tl~e ~~ro:e_s o#' ciee~~~`~cpir.~~ alEertati~~e tc* a~~ricultural c:lr~-up and sr.ould be contmendcd for this nitiatit•e, ni:~t pL'nallzed. The scone of «•ork "apnears to be more academic in nature than desired." The 1` e~sistative intent eras '~o advance various agricultural transfer methods as alternatives to pertnanent agricultural dn•-up°. To our knowledge there have been no '~1`ater Court transfers apl~rovcd that use these "various agricultural trans#er raetl;ods." Therefore, it is abs:.lutely ess.:ntia) that these alternative methods be r~searchecl to understand ho~v they ~vottId work and ho~v the}• would l;e administered,. 11'ithout that information, there is no basis to go to 11'ater Court and request a «~ater transfer. These questions «-i:l be answered by the scope of study proposed in this grant application. ~~'1•.o better to develop this infornation thart the state's premier agricultural universit}• ~~~ho Itas as one of its primary mssians the sustainability of a healthy agricultural colnmunitE~? llrtlile Colorado State has .he rsponsibility of conducting research on alternative agricultural transfer methods. the PtZ'SD team of consultants is ~4orking with Colorado State, and «•ith the advisory Committee (~rlvch includes local farmers, local businessmen. z- representati.ve from the State Engineer's Division 1 office, and a representative of Northern Water). to define the parameters that are necessary for a change of use proceeding in Water Court. "this is detailed in the P11'SD application on pages 6. 11, and 12. This ~.vork is also designed to "provide usable and transferable information or processes that dill increase our understanding of how to successfully design transfer programs". e~actl} as depictzd in the criteria for the grant application evaluations. See purpose and need on page ~ of the application. also pages 6. 7. 12. l4, 1 ~ and the scope of ~ti•ork on .pages 2~-26. The means b~ «•hich transferable water would be administered "does not appear to Ibel addressed iin this aanliication." phis is a very curious conclusion by CtL'CI3 sta#Tsin~,:e an entire section of the application is devoted to this yen- topic (Phase -1, Sub-objective 1-. In tact, prior to including this phase of tl:e work in the PVl'SD application, eve consulted ~iith representatives from the State Engineer's Division l of~~ce and \ortherrt `~'+'ater persoautel, as well as professors at Colorado State. to evaluate if the methods being proposed have merit for further stud~• to 4.ctua#ly quantify partial consumptive use savings in a •vay that 1vould be administrable. We r~e~ived positive responses from both the representative o#'the State Engineer's Orrice and Northern 1t'ater that this rnethodolog}' should be pursued. As such. tree Phase 4 scope of ~i~ork Sias incorporated into the proposal (see pages ?~-?6 of'the application). This pre>cedurt:. if it praxes successfill. ti-iil have applicability for this project, but can also be applied in other areas of the South Platte and in the :lrkansas Rive, basin, ~~•hich E~vas a tatajc~r consideration factor by the committee drafting the uuidelines for these grant applications.