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&17COLORADO <br /> Colorado Water <br /> Conservation Beard. <br /> Department of Nat r l Resources <br /> Criteria and Guidelines for the Establishment of an <br /> Agricultural Water Protection Program in Water Division 1 or 2 for the <br /> Implementation of an Agricultural Water Protection Water Right as <br /> allowed by House Bill 16-1228 <br /> I. INTRODUCTION <br /> These Criteria and Guidelines address the creation of Agricultural Water Protection Programs <br /> (AWPPs), which are required for the ongoing monitoring and operation of an Agricultural Water <br /> Protection Water Right(AWPWR). The AWPPs established in compliance with this guidance <br /> are tasked with monitoring the 50% or more of each participating AWPWR that will remain in <br /> agricultural use, unless they are enrolled in an approved federal, state, or local conservation <br /> program. The use of up to 50% of each AWPWR for non-agricultural purposes must be in <br /> compliance with a Substitute Water Supply Plan and subsequent Rules promulgated by the <br /> Division of Water Resources. <br /> Background <br /> Under House Bill (HB) 16-1228, codified at section 37-92-305(4)(c), C.R.S. (2016)1, the owner <br /> of an absolute decreed irrigation water right used for agricultural purposes may file an <br /> application to the water court to change the right to an"agricultural water protection water right" <br /> (AWPWR), which is defined in section 37-92-305(19), C.R.S. The AWPWR is created to <br /> simultaneously preserve ongoing irrigation use of a water right and provide the flexibility to <br /> lease a portion of the water right to accommodate potentially unknown future uses. The <br /> delivery of the AWPWR to the new point of diversion, for the new use, must be done in <br /> accordance with a substitute water supply plan (SWSP) approved pursuant to section 37-92- <br /> 308(12), C.R.S. and rules promulgated pursuant to section 37-80-123, C.R.S. This statutory <br /> allowance is applicable to Water Divisions 1 and 2 only. <br /> The change decree for an AWPWR must quantify historical diversions and historical <br /> consumptive use of the water being changed; quantify and require maintenance of historical <br /> return flows in time,place, and amount; and identify terms and conditions that will be used in an <br /> SWSP issued pursuant to section 37-92-308(12), C.R.S. Once a final decree is issued for the <br /> AWPWR, in order to use the AWPWR, the owner of the water right must apply to the State <br /> Engineer for a SWSP to lease, loan, or trade up to fifty percent of the quantified historical <br /> consumptive use. The SWSP application must identify a specific beneficial use and the <br /> applicant for the SWSP must be the owner of the water right for which the AWPWR has been <br /> decreed. The function of the SWSP is to provide notice to the SWSP notification list and obtain <br /> approval from the Division of Water Resources (DWR) to deliver the water to a new point of <br /> diversion for a specific beneficial use with terms and conditions that prevent injury. The term of <br /> All statute references in this document are to C.R.S. (2016) <br /> Page 1 of 5 <br />