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Water Heritage Trust
California Instream Water Transfers Meeting
Redefining Water Rights: The Instream Water Transfers Project
Conservation easements are one of the most powerful, effective tools available for the permanent protection of private lands. Their use over the past forty years has successfully protected millions of acres for the benefit of both humans and wildlife. Yet, these same federal tax laws that provide tremendous incentives for the protection of land have not been extended to the protection of water.
The Resource Renewal Institute sees an opportunity to address this discrepancy. RRI is working to get the IRS to recognize, as tax deductible, the permanent donation of an entire or partial interest of a water right for conservation purposes. Putting such incentives in place would preserve and enhance life-sustaining increments of instream flow throughout the West.
To achieve this, RRI will:
1. Use our leadership and legal expertise to establish a federal tax precedent for the donation of a water right. Appropriative and riparian water rights are legally-recognized real property interests in most every western state. RRI's research has uncovered a handful of permanent water right donations that have received income or estate tax deductions over the past decade. Yet, the IRS has not issued a formal private letter or revenue ruling providing rules or guidelines about these donations. This lack of IRS guidance leaves inhibiting uncertainty and poses a risk that a "bad" case may emerge and generate a negative precedent.
Working with a specialized western network focused on instream water transfers, RRI will establish a favorable IRS precedent for water right donations to forge a new conservation tool for broad use by others. The ability to receive federal tax deductions for water rights donated instream could significantly contribute towards ensuring healthy fish runs and overall water quality, especially in cold-water tributary streams.
2. Establish a mechanism in California that protects instream flows through water transfers, improved instream flow accounting, and agricultural water conservation. Market-based, voluntary water transactions, including acquiring or leasing water rights, are an increasingly important non-regulatory approach to increase instream flows in working agricultural landscapes. California's maturing water transfers market still needs to improve its instream flow monitoring to ensure all instream water transfers, not just permanent donative transfers, are effectively accounted for and managed.
The Resource Renewal Institute has the leadership, expertise, and experience working with state and federal agencies needed to make this key conservation tool a reality. RRI has already hosted a western regional Permanent Instream Water Transfers Meeting in October 2010 and is now preparing a California Instream Water Transfers Meeting in March 2011. Under RRI's collaborative leadership a broad regional coalition of interested parties with a common stake in instream water transfers will integrate the potential for federal tax deductions into functional state-level water right administrative systems for all transfers. RRI's leadership is poised to move this concept into action and usher in a new era of conservation for both land and water.
Water Heritage Trust is supported by a bequest from the Antonioli family.
Some of Water Heritage Trust's innovative projects:
Salmon Recovery Pilot Program
California’s Sacramento River flows through some of the world’s most productive land while supporting previously bountiful runs of salmon and other important fish species. WHT is supplying scientific and technical guidance for a unique pilot project to integrate fish habitat restoration, rice crop land and improved water quality.
River Warrior Awards: Honoring Community Stewardship of Rivers and Fish
The River Warrior Awards annually recognize individuals and small organizations whose work is often the reason why a river keeps flowing or powerful water interests are kept honest. Many individuals and small groups have single-handedly protected entire rivers, species of fish, and pristine watersheds. Often they receive little compensation for years of dedication and pioneering work to keep our water supplies clean and free-flowing. The River Warrior Awards, with attending $1,000 cash prizes, are intended to say ‘Thank You’ with no strings attached.
There is no formal application or geographical area of focus for the River Warrior Awards, which are administered based on achievement, word-of-mouth, and open nomination. Please read about the 2009 award winners here, Stay Tuned for this year’s winners, or nominate a worthy group or individual here.
Butte Creek Salmon: buying water for salmon on California's best salmon stream and selling it to the government to maintain in perpetuity. Read more about Butte Creek here [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/26/MNTT10MAQ8.DTL]
For more information on Water Heritage Trust’s activities, please contact Huey Johnson [hdj@rri.org] |
