9370 ‎(2)‎

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9370
• Author: Colorado Water Workshop.
• Title: 1996 Colorado Water Workshop.
• USFW Year: 1996.
• USFW - Doc Type: Western State College of Colorado.
• Copyright Material: NO

lease along with other water rights.

The Hells Canyon Creek leases will first be used in 1996. The only three Hells Canyon Creek
water users are all parties to the lease and we do not expect a water commissioner will be
needed. '

The Cedar Creek lease will first be implemented in 1996. There are other users on the stream
and a commissioner may be required if informal administration of the lease is not effective.

LEASE NEGOTIATIONS

Leasing agreements obtained so far were obtained with various degrees of difficulty. The most
difficult agreement was on Hells Canyon Creek where it took almost three years to get a final
agreement with the water users. The easiest agreement was the third agreement on Mill Creek.
It took only a few months to achieve because it was based on the leasing history and a previous
agreement on the same stream.

Successes in obtaining agreements depends as much on the good faith of the parties as it does
on the facts of the situation. MFWP has conducted its own negotiations for some leases and has
been assisted by an outside attorney for others. If a lease is relatively simple, an outside attorney
is not necessary (MFWP has its own legal staff that often prepares agreements and also must
approve the legal content of all final lease agreements). However, on the complicated Hells
Canyon lease, the other parties each had an attorney and MFWP used an outside attorney
because of the time commitment required.

MFWP has investigated about 85 potential water leases during the first six years of the program.
Most of them were not pursued because the water rights were: Too small to help the stream; in
the wrong location; had a poor priority date; appeared to be an invalid water right; had too short
a period of use; had questions about abandonment; would have known adverse effects on other
users, etc.

THE FUTURE OF LEASING

Montana's leasing program is still in its infancy. We are seeing more interest in leasing as the
original concerns subside and word spreads that leasing is not the bogeyman it was first thought
to be. Also, the change process protects those who believe a lease will affect their water rights.

MFWP is currently investigating several other potential leases. These are on tributary streams
to larger rivers and would either improve spawning for these rivers or would improve the habitat
for fish that reside in the smaller streams year-round.

In some instances, land ownership changes are the reason for a water lease. New owners may

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