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<br />\S"l\) <br /> <br />experience of .leasing Fort Lyon land and water for tenant use, leases of FLee water <br />are expected to be offered at about $60/af C.U./year in normal water years. Water <br />is expected to lease for about $150/af ,c.U./year in dry years, i.e., one year in ten. <br />However, shareholders can set any off~ring prices that they believe will be accepted; <br /> <br />. There is no permanent transfer ofwat~r from the land within the FLee system, no <br />permanent drying up of land, and no permanent loss of agriculture-dependent jobs <br />in the Valley; <br /> <br />. Environmental consequences of water bank operations are neutral and in some cases <br />(e.g., rotational fallowing of farmland; increasing river flow to the designated delivery <br />points) are positive; <br /> <br />. Water bank management will be obligated to protect against losses of return flows <br />and will minimize losses of head in canals and laterals that would injure other <br />landowners; <br /> <br />. Market forces rather than regulation will cause water to be transferred to higher- <br />valued uses in the Valley, thus increasing economic health of the entire Valley; <br /> <br />. Water will be available to improve municipal water supplies and to accommodate new <br />or expanding industry desiring to locate in the Valley, and enhance recreation and <br />wildlife needs; , <br /> <br />. Shareholders will not face new restrictions on potential sale of their water; they may <br />have an enhanced opportunity to sell water to others within the FLee or lease part <br />of it through the water bank. The water bank itself will facilitate sales by making a <br />market for water in the Fort Lyon are~, i.e., acting as a central water broker, buying <br />some water for its own account, and brpkering sales from willing sellers to new users; <br />! <br /> <br />. Operation of the water bank will stimt/late water management improvements in the <br />FLee system and improve irrigation efficiency, which will benefit existing irrigators <br />and generate some new jobs. <br /> <br />. A successful Fort Lyon water bank could subsequently be expanded to cover a larger <br />portion of the Lower Arkansas Valley', and may serve as a model for other areas of <br />the state. <br /> <br />Socio-Economic Impacts of Implementing the WateriBank <br /> <br />The water bank alternative will avoid the most undesirable social and economic consequences that <br />will result from some of the alternatives. There will not be a massive transfer of agricultural water, <br />either permanently to users outside the Lower Arkan,sas Valley or temporarily in dry years to water <br />utilities outside the Valley or to assure water supplyi for recreation and wildlife. <br />, <br />I <br /> <br />8-6 <br />