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Alternative Agricultural Water Transfer Methods -Grant Application Form <br />January 2008 <br />Now, the conservation agreement can be combined with other exhibits that outline the long- <br />term lease arrangements between the landowner and the lessee, such as water conservancy <br />districts, other agencies, and municipalities. <br />Ducks Unlimited also holds conservation easements that provide protection for the land and <br />water in perpetuity. A DU easement restricts further development of the property beyond <br />agriculture, and protects and encourages agricultural and wildlife development of the property. <br />An easement with DU goes beyond protection of the property and strives to provide the very <br />best protection of water rights by tying the right to the land. Oftentimes this requires specific <br />language in the easement deed, but can extend to having the water shares reissued in DU and the <br />water holders' names. This assures DU that the water right can never be moved from the <br />property. <br />Ducks Unlimited allows the landowner to freely enter into recharge agreements with local <br />landowners, rotafional fallowing agreements, interruptible supply plans, and numerous other <br />options that maximize the multiple benefits that can be provided by the water right through <br />recharge and lease agreements. Ducks Unlimited encourages that the property remains in some <br />type of agriculture and?or that some waterfowl benefit be derived from the property, which <br />irrigated agriculture provides as forage for waterfowl. <br />Benefits of easements can be numerous including cash to the farmer to lower capital and <br />operational costs, increased flexibility in water application, improved partnership relations with a <br />long-term vested organization capable of providing funds to assist with legal, engineering, and <br />restorafion costs. <br />Inmost every project, DU leaves the water right with the landowner to manage and to gain <br />income from its use, whatever the use maybe, as long as the integrity of the property is <br />maintained. However, insertion of new funding sources has encouraged DU to evaluate the <br />benefits of certain projects or areas where DU could manage and operate water banks through <br />additional cooperative efforts with existing landowners. Ducks Unlimited thinks that this maybe <br />one of the best opportunities to preserve an agricultural and wildlife based economy in the focus <br />area for the future. However, the idea is young and needs to be explored in much more detail. <br />The Colorado Corn Growers Team understands the need to establish perpetual water supplies. <br />During the course of this project, the team will collaborate and will use the expertise of the team <br />to explore ways to accomplish this (in addition to the means that DU has used in the pastas <br />described above). For example, a survey recently completed by Colorado State University <br />suggested that more than 60% of respondents would be willing to lease water rather than sell so <br />long as they were suitably compensated, and only 7% of respondents planned to sell within the <br />next 5 years. The Business Plan developed for this project can aid an agricultural producer in <br />determining adequate levels of compensation. In addition, transacfion costs may be reduced as a <br />result of this project, which would likely increase the frequency with which long term leases <br />19