Sharing the West’s Liquid Gold

By Brianna Randall, New West Unfiltered 10-06-05

Fish get pretty scarce when creeks run out of water. But farms and ranches don’t last long without water to grow their crops, either. That’s why water in the West is more precious than gold—not only is water scarce, it’s also essential for our ecology and economy.

Fortunately, a few organizations in western states are employing incentive-based methods to keep creeks flowing and cows growing. An innovative conservation approach to managing water rights within the Prior Appropriation Doctrine has recently emerged: water leasing.

Groups like the Montana Water Trust (MWT), a non-profit based in Missoula, Montana, are pioneering new models for water use in the West by applying tools such as water leasing to benefit landowners, streamflows, and communities.

“Water is the backbone of a healthy environment, and also the foundation of a successful ranch,� says Montana Water Trust Executive Director and co-founder, John Ferguson.

“Of course we need water in aquatic ecosystems, but it’s also important for the economic viability of Montana’s landowners. That’s why we use incentives to re-water Montana’s streams, benefiting landowners, too,� he adds.

Although many landowners in Montana or other western states are interested in sustainable land management, water management often takes a backseat. The complicated water law system can be confusing to work with, especially for new landowners not familiar with western water rights. However, comprehensive conservation is now easier by working with water leasing groups.

The Montana Water Trust was founded in 2001 to work cooperatively with landowners to transfer all or a portion of their water rights to instream flow.

The group focuses on developing agreements on smaller tributaries where even a little water makes a big difference for native fish, restoring the 4,000 miles of dewatered streams in Montana. Their agreements aim to benefit both the local watershed and each individual ranch.
Groups dedicated to instream flow water transactions exist in most western states.

For instance, the Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program, which provides Bonneville Power Administration funds for water leases, is comprised of 10 local water leasing entities within Idaho, Montana, Washington and Oregon, ranging from local and national non-profit groups to state agencies.

In the Southwest, many innovative strategies are emerging in the public and private sector for water transactions; in this region, however, cities are often the leaders in transferring water from agricultural use, rather than conservation interests.

How exactly does water leasing work as a means of sharing the West’s liquid gold?

The history and growth of the arid American West is rooted deeply in finding, moving, and claiming water. Eleven states are west of the 100th meridian, the imaginary line of longitude that represents the boundary between the non-irrigated east (a region that receives greater than 20 inches of rain per year) and the heavily-irrigated west (a region early explorers referred to as “the Great American Desert").

Because water is often the limiting factor for success in the West, the Prior Appropriation Doctrine arose out of early settlers’ immediate need to divvy up and use this scant resource. Both surface and ground water rights are privately owned through the Doctrine—this complicated water rights system is still the backbone of survival for cities, agriculture, and industry in the West.

Although each state has differing water laws within the Doctrine, these two simple phrases neatly sum up the main tenets for water rights in the West: 1) “First in time, first in right.� 2) “Use it or lose it.�

The first landowner to settle a region could claim the senior right to divert water from the nearest stream or river. Each subsequent landowner to claim water from the same stream has a water right junior to the first landowners’, creating a system of water use based upon a descending order of priority dates—these water rights are usually passed down to the new landowners as property changes ownership.

In addition, each water right claim is only valid as long as the landowner puts the diverted water to a “beneficial� use; if not, the water right may be considered “abandoned,� and the water is up for grabs for junior water right holders.

Here’s where water leasing comes in: within the past few decades, as rivers began to run dry in the summers, many western states passed legislation recognizing instream flow as a “beneficial use� of a water right. Now landowners don’t need to irrigate simply to “use� their water right, and don’t risk abandoning their water right if they leave water in the creeks and rivers to sustain fisheries and the surrounding ecosystem.

Water trusts like MWT work within the Doctrine by identifying senior water rights to transfer to instream flow use. Some of the types of water transaction agreements used include: short- and long-term water right leases, irrigation efficiency projects, point of diversion changes, water right purchases or donations, and split-season leases.

“We want landowners to know that we’re here for them,� says Ferguson. “MWT helps them manage their water rights as another asset on their property. In return, we get to keep fish wet and watersheds whole.� [End of article]