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Alternative Agricultural Water Transfer Methods -Grant Application Form <br />January 2008 <br />d) The proposed project/program advances the preservation of high value agricultural lands. Value can <br />be viewed as: the value of crops produced, the value the agr°iculture provides to the local community, <br />and the value the agi^icultural area provides for open space and wildlife habitat. <br />The Colorado Corn Growers Association Team sees the preservation of productive output of <br />high value agricultural lands as a high priority. Through their involvement and the involvement <br />of Don Ament (former Colorado Secretary of Agriculture, former Colorado State Senator, and <br />life-long farmer in the South Platte basin), the C?CB can be assured that the preservation of <br />high value agricultural lands will remain the primary goal of this project. <br />The value of agricultural lands will be considered and quantified to the degree possible using the <br />economic and business expertise of researchers such as James Pritchett and the Brown and <br />Caldwell Business Practice group. Value will be defined by the characteristics listed above (the <br />value of crops produced, the value that agriculture provides to the local community and the value <br />the agricultural area provides for open space and wildlife habitat). <br />Tools for quantifying the value of irrigated agriculture and for determining rates of compensation <br />for water transfers that will, in effect, maintain irrigated agricultural productivity will be <br />developed as a part of the Business Plan. The use of the Business Plan for facilitating alternative <br />water transfers will result in the preservation of high value agricultural lands. <br />e) The proposed project/program addresses water quality, or provides other environmental benefits to <br />rivers, streams and wetlands. <br />In general, the filtering of water through wetlands results in improvements in water quality. <br />Because the demonstration projects involve the construction of wetlands and their natural <br />filtering of water, improvements in water quality will result. The provision of benefits from <br />increased wetlands, wildlife habitat and open space will be quantified to the extent possible and <br />incorporated into the project in order to provide for practical replication and implementation of <br />alternative water transfers across the state. <br />? The proposed project/prog?^am increases our understanding of and quantifies prog?^am costs. This <br />could include: institutional, legal, technical and third party impacts. <br />An important deliverable from this project will be the identification and quantification of the <br />costs and benefits from the demonstration projects. Legal, administrative, and technical <br />requirements and costs as well as procedures to estimate these costs will be developed for <br />purposes of the Business Plan. This will be provided in both the deliverables concerning the <br />specific projects as well as in the Business Plan. The examples and procedures for determining <br />17