Water Rights Lease

All water right transfers must be filed with the Board who will acknowledge and record all transfers of Decreed Right between parties. These transfers may be temporary (lease) or in perpetuity (deed).
In leasing, buying, or selling water rights, parties should be specific as to the type of water being exchanged, e.g. Decreed Right. All leases should be entered into on the basis of Decreed Right and should specify both amount of Decreed Right, to the nearest whole acre-foot, and period of lease. All water right leases shall be made on a fiscal year basis. Absent express advance approval of the Board, production of leased water must take place from the Basin subarea where the leased water resides.

For a water right lease to be in force (applicable) during a particular fiscal year, it must have been executed by the parties involved prior to June 30 of the fiscal year in question. In addition, the executed water right lease document must be filed with the Board within 30 days after signing the agreement but no later than June 30.

Every lease shall state whether or not it conveys the ten percent carryover flexibility provision with respect to the water rights being leased. In the absence of any statement, the Board will assume that the lessor retained use of the ten percent carryover flexibility provision.

Whenever a water right owner sells its property on which its water right was developed, e.g., farm, factory, etc., they will so stipulate as to the disposition of the water right. Whenever there is such a sale of property, the Board should be notified as soon as possible and a grant deed submitted along with the notification. The Board will verify whether the water right was reserved and, if not, will update the records to show the new owner of the water right.

Click here to download Water Rights Lease Agreement*

*Please note that you will not be able to save the form with any changes you make to it. Please make sure you print the form for your records.