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" ., Administrative, Institutional, and Structural Characteristic8 or 80 Active Water Market transfers of other water rights, a C-BT allotment transfer does not require the determination of the amount of consumptive use or return flow to protect the rights of other water users, However, the allot- ment is for one use only and return flows from allot- ments are dedicated back to the stream and cannot be appropriated or sold. A complex network of reservoirs and ditches makes C-BT water physically easy to transfer almost any- where within the district service area, One of the few constraints on C-BT transfers is that the water must be put to beneficial use (as a hedge against excessive speculation in water rights). The NCWCD Board of Directors is the authority that approves all applica- tions for allotment transfers, Individual water users obtain the right to use pro- ject water through allotment contracts signed with the District. There are three types of allotment con, tracts, classified by group and water use: municipal (Class B and Section 13 I); individuals, public or pri- vate corporations, mutual ditch companies and water user associations (Class C and Corporate Form); and allotments to lands for irrigation use (Class D), Annual fees are collected on each C,BT allotment in order to cover the fixed and operating costs of the project (assessment costs). The assessment amount depends on contract class and whether it is an origi- nal allotment (fixed) contract or if the allotment has been transferred (open rate contract), Assessment costs are based on the concept of user ability to pay (agricultural uses less, municipal and industrial uses more) rather than the actual delivery costs to individ- ual users. The assessment cost for irrigation districts with fixed (beginning of project) contracts is $1.50 per unit. The 1994 schedule of assessment costs for any allotments that have been transferred (open rate) by contract class are as follows: agriculture $5,95 per C,BT unit; municipal $13,85 per unit; and industrial $21.45 per unit, ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS l1n ,ea- of .Iso :ts, .;in, lat- ter, full ,t to The permanent transfer of C-BT water within the District can be accomplished through administrative procedure and, in contrast with most other water rights in Colorado, does not involve filing an applica- tion with the state and the often lengthy adjudication process to ensure there are no adverse impacts to ohtain approval. Instead, the administrative proce- dures to transfer C-BT allotments are straight for- ward and clearly defined by the District. The first 'tep is to file a joint (seller and buyer) application for transfer with the NCWCD, The application requires information about seller ownership (title to the prop- erty and buyer need (justification) for the wateT to limit purely speculative purchases, The District charges a flat $70 transfer fee per application regard, less of the number of units transferred. For example, to transfer a Class D agricultural allotment (where water use is tied to the land) to the same use or another location and use, the selleT and buyer must submit a single application to the NCWCD Board of Directors, The signatures of all of the landowners involved in the transaction and a title search to certify property ownership are required to ensure that there is no cloud on the property transfer, When the transfer is to another farmer (Class D con- tract), a legal description and title search of the land on which the water will be used is required to certify ownership as submitted in the application and that the water allotment will be put to beneficial, rather than excess or speculative, use, A field exam by dis- trict staff may also be conducted to determine actual needs for a given parcel of land. When the transfer is to a municipality or industry, the buyer must describe the use and justify the need for the allotment and, when approved, enter into a new type of contract (municipal, industrial or multipurpose) with the NCWCD. The NCWCD uses a formula to determine if a municipal water allotment transfer is "justified" in terms of the water supplies already owned by the pur- chaser and purchaser demand. The formula to test for need is based on demand, calculated from the ten year average of purchaser annual usage times two, plus estimated water needs for projected growth, com- pared to the amount of water supply available from all sources assuming drought (low) yields, Relatively few applicants have been required to further justify their need for the water transfer, and only a small number of applicants have been denied. The District is in the process of revising the municipal water justi- fication formula to more realistically assess the com- bined supply available and current and projected water demand, When the application is complete it is submitted to the Board of Directors for consideration and approval at their monlh\y meeting. Following Board approval of the transfer another public record check for owner- ship is conducted. In most cases it takes about two weeks from the Board meeting to obtain final approval of the transfer. No state engineer review or approval is needed for a C-BT water allotment trans- fer, significantly reducing the time and cost of a trans- fer compared to the Colorado water right adjudication process which takes an average of 20 months to com- plete (MacDonnell, 1990). Typically, the whole C-BT transfer process can be accomplished in four to six 977 WATER RESOURCES BULLETIN