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<br />OJJ756 <br /> <br />Water Conservation Terminology <br /> <br />Salvaged water and saved water are tenns that refer to a fraction of a diverter's water supply that <br />becomes available as a result of conservation practices or water system improvements, Water salvaged or <br />reclaimed from a nonbeneficialloss of water diverted under a valid water right is called salvaged water. Such <br />losses could include evaporation, transpiration, or seepage that does not return to the stream or aquifer system <br />upon which other water rights depend Evaporation and transpiration losses are common in open, unlined <br />ditches, which are widely used to convey water for irrigation, Replacing an open ditch with underground pipe <br />would result in conserving water by elirninating evaporation from the open ditch and transpiration from <br />weedy plants or trees growing along the ditch, Some of the seepage from canals returns to the stream or <br />aquifer system as return flow, and is then available for diversion by other water rights, However, this is not <br />always the case, Using underground pipe can eliminate losses of seepage water that would not otherwise <br />return to the stream system. In this example the water conserved would be considered salvaged water because <br />the water conserved would not, under pre-conservation conditions, have been available for diversion and <br />beneficial use by other water users, The O\\11er of salvaged water may elect to change its use, irrigate <br />additional acreage, or store it to cover seasonal shortages but, as a prerequisite, must prove in water court that <br />any changes will not injure other water users, <br />Return-flow water that is conserved through more efficient diversion and application of a diverted water <br />right is called saved water, If; in the example given above, installation of underground pipe prevented losses <br />of seepage water or other return flow that normally would have returned to the stream or aquifer system upon <br />which other water users are dependent for their supply, the water conserved would be considered saved water. <br />Saved water can be applied to beneficial use by the original diverter to elirninate or reduce periods of <br />shortage, subject to terms of the original water-right decree, but may not be sold or transferred to new uses <br />that are outside the tenns of the original water right. <br />Conservation practices can impact a watershed differently depending on whether the water derived is <br />salvaged water or saved water, Water conserved as salvaged water can potentially increase the amount of <br />water available for alternative uses without adversely affecting other water rights, Water conserved as saved <br />water may decrease the total amount of water available for alternative uses, If the original diverter can make <br />beneficial use of the saved water during periods of shortage in accordance with the tenns of the existing <br />decree, the diverter's total seasonal consumptive use will increase, If the saved water becomes available to <br />junior water right holders, those junior users will divert or consume part or all of it. <br />Salvaged water belongs to the owner of the water right, and can be transferred to new uses, subject to <br /> <br />13 <br />