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/ <br /> Ill. Other <br /> A. Conservation Easements: A conservation easement keeps land in <br /> private ownership while providing benefits to the public and the environment, by <br /> allowing for the preservation of traditional land uses and protecting open lands for future <br /> generations. A conservation easement, a legally binding agreement, restricts what a <br /> landowner may place on property in order to protect its natural, agricultural and/or open <br /> space values for the long term and limits certain types of uses and/or prevents <br /> development from taking place. In a conservation easement, a landowner voluntarily <br /> agrees to donate or sell certain rights associated with property, such as the right to <br /> subdivide. A private organization or public agency agrees to hold "in trust" the <br /> landowner's promise not to exercise those rights. <br /> In La Plata County over 18,000 acres have been conserved voluntarily by landowners <br /> working primarily with the La Plata Open Space Conservancy. In Archuleta County, the <br /> principal land conservancy entity is the Southwest Land Alliance. In other places, <br /> conservation easements have permanently protected significant reaches of river <br /> channel and riverside habitat. A conservation easement may include language that <br /> specifically recognizes the importance of all or some of the water rights associated with <br /> a property to the maintenance of the"conservation values"which the easement is <br /> intended to protect. There,are currently several federal and state tax incentives <br /> available to landowners who decide to place their property in a conservation easement. <br /> B. County Land Use Code: Counties have enacted a wide range of tools to <br /> help protect rivers, wetlands and groundwater through land use codes, crafted and <br /> implemented in ways ranging from voluntary, incentive based approaches to regulatory <br /> approaches. Some examples include: Low Density(Agricultural)Zoning; Overlay <br /> Districts (e.g. Groundwater Recharge Protection, Wetland Protection,Watershed <br /> Protection, and River Protection Districts(Douglas County, GA)etc.; <br /> identification/designation of special areas (e.g. Critical Resource Protection Areas <br /> (Stafford County Virginia), to be addressed in site planning for development; Natural <br /> Resource Regulations(e.g. Sarasota County, FL); development standards and/or <br /> regulations; ordinances(e.g. Floodplain, Waterbody Setback or Buffer,Wetland, Tree <br /> Protection, Steep Slopes, Storm Water Quality Standards, Stormwater Drainage, <br /> Erosion and Sedimentation Control); river protection acts (e.g. Seminole County, FL); <br /> transfer of development rights programs. <br /> D. Contractual Arrangements: See above discussion of South Platte <br /> Protection Plan, Recovery Implementation Programs, Five-State Agreement and VFAs. <br /> -15- <br /> Contacts: <br /> Southwestern Water Conservation District or San Juan Citizens Alliance ' # <br /> 970-247-1302 or water©frontier.net 970-259-3583 or meghan®sanjuancitizens.org <br /> ' t� <br /> ocs.fortlewis.edu/riverprotection tat <br />