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Yuma County Water Authority Public Improvement District Agenda Item 26d November 10 , 2008 Page 4 of 7 purchase by agreeing to lease the water rights from the Yuma County PID for 20 years (North Fork Lease) . The $5 million is a one - time lease payment that will be paid to the surface right owners at closing. An additional benefit of the water rights purchase is to assist the State of Colorado in complying with the Republican River Compact by reducing the consumptive use charged to the State under the ext 20 years by approximately 2,500 AF/yr . The North Fork Lease will supplement the Republican River Compact Compliance Pipeline and will reduce the amount of ground water that will be pumped during the term of the North Fork Lease, thereby prolonging the life of the aquifer in the area of the wells that will be used as Compact Compliance Wells. Loan Feasibility Study The Loan F easibility Study for North Fork Water Rights Purchase 2008, was prepared in part by the legal firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP under the direction of Steve Sims, Esq. The study was prepared in accordance with the CWCB guidelines and includes : Yuma County PID formation documentation , Purchase Contracts, lawsuit legal summary, and an Economic Development Report prepared by Colorado State University. Yuma County Water Authority Public Improvement District The Yuma County PID is a public improvement district which was formed by the Yuma County Water Authority and ratified during the November 4, 2008 general election within Yuma County. The purpose of the Yuma County PID is to address an imminent threat to the economic viability of obligations un der the Repub lican River Compact by purchasing surface water rights in the North Fork of the Republican River basin. In order to finance the purchase with property tax revenues, the Yuma County Board of County Commissioners created the Yuma County P ID purs uant to the County Public Improvement District Act of 1968 (C.R.S. 30 - 20 - 501) and to authorize the Yuma County PID to incur debt for the purpose of purchasing surface water rights. The voters of Yuma County ratified the formation of the Yuma County PID an d authorized the general obligation debt at the November 4, 2008 general election. The boundaries of the Yuma County PID are consistent with those of Yuma County and all municipalities within the boundaries are required to consent to their inclusion in th e Yuma County PID . T he board of directors of the Yuma County PID consist s of the Yuma County Commissioners . Water Rights The North Fork water rights included in the Project total 43 cfs , which are shown in the list below , along with certain rights - of - way and infrastructure. The purchase of the w ater r ights are subject to a review of the current owner's title to the water ri ghts and rights to convey the same , and a requirement by the current owners to sign covenants to dry - up the property on which the w at er r ights were historically used.