Borrego Water Exchange Announces
First Groundwater Conservation Easement for Agricultural Land
For Open Market Sale and Transfer

On December 21, a citrus farmer called Lane Sharman to give the green light to fallow his Borrego property in exchange for the opportunity to sell Borrego Water Exchange Permanent Water Credits. This is a historic event.

First, it establishes that Borrego Springs welcomes open market innovation to solve environmental resource limitations. Second, it provides aquifer stakeholders of Borrego with a simple, market-based asset to reverse depletion. Third, the asset is transferable, can be held for investment, or retired to preserve the conservation value of the asset. Fourth, the asset can be donated to worthy and non-profit organizations such as ABDNHA and others who must mitigate for future building projects. Lastly, public agencies and private concerns can purchase with ease and confidence the asset to decelerate overdrafting and transform the economy onto a sustainable footing.

The specifics of the agreement are as follows:

1. The landowner requests anonymity.

2. The decision will result in the recordation of a Groundwater Conservation Easement in favor of the Borrego Water Exchange with the BWX having a right to convey.

3. Every 360 days or sooner, as warranted, easement purchases result in fallowing and subsequent mulching of the lemon trees. Periodically, a conveyance of the easement is made in favor of the BWD and the County of San Diego with a right to inspect. BWX retains its original interest in the easement.

4. 3.8 Acre Feet Per Acre of Water Consumption Per Year is used to calculate the net aquifer consumption of the citrus grove.

5. The entire parcel is available for conservation resulting in a total of 190 Acre Feet of groundwater conservation per year.

6. The BWX Credits will be denominated as one hundredths of an acre foot. Therefore, there are 19,000 serialized credits available for investment.

7. The price for a credit, established by the landowner, is $60.00. The BWX adds a 5% transaction fee of $3.00.

8. In the event that there is not a complete “buy-out” of the credits, the land owner has the right to execute a demand upon the BWX to quit-claim the easement back to the owner after one year.

9. All funds are held in escrow until the right to inspect by the BWX and the BWD is exercised and compliance of the order to fallow is satisfied.
   
   

This announcement is terrific news yet its import to the community and stakeholders of Borrego Springs cannot be overstated. The investment in credits will indicate if the community can valuate the reduction of groundwater demand. A permanent water credit is a permanent improvement in groundwater preservation year over year. This is the most valuable of all water credits because it removes groundwater demand permanently, not periodically or incidentally.

The Borrego Water Exchange urges every stakeholder in Borrego Springs to purchase credits for its intrinsic investment value. Demand for credits will signify to irrigators that capital is present in the open market. This capital will redirect land use away from irrigation and toward other uses such as renewable energy production from solar harvesting. A permanent water credit is backed by a legal conservation easement on the land which eliminates the pumping of groundwater for uses on the land.

By contrast, the absence of capital investment in groundwater preservation will leave no other long term option except taxation or adjudication. Capital investment is required to achieve long term equilibrium for supply and demand of water in Borrego. Unless capital is invested quickly and vigorously in water credits, the depletion of groundwater will leave only costly alternatives: importation of water or allocation through adjudication or regulation. There can be no doubt that groundwater depletion must be fixed. As with climate change, we are of our environment. And, therefore, we live and prosper when nature is sustained. No amount of hand waving or burying our collective heads in the sand will alter the tragic outcome of aquifer depletion unless this generation makes a substantial course correction relative to finite natural resources. Resources depleted, such as carbon or groundwater, have consequences. It is in our time and this generation that the wheel of change must be turned.

We can live without petroleum. The same cannot be said about drinkable water.

The Borrego Water Exchange urges all Borregans to consider the purchase of water credits to begin the process of achieving groundwater sustainability.

For more information, visit the web site: www.borregowaterexchange.com.

For purchases or information, come to the office of the Borrego Water Exchange at the Borrego Mall, office #224. Or, visit the web site or call 858-755-2868.

About the Borrego Water Exchange

The Borrego Water Exchange exists to serve Borrego Springs and other communities grappling with groundwater depletion. It uses an open market approach to value preservation or replenishment of groundwater. Conservation or replenishment actions are converted to standard paper assets which may be freely bought and sold on an open market basis. The Exchange provides accounting, transfer and auditing services as a modern environmental exchange. It is modeled after the Chicago Climate Exchange.

The Exchange was founded in 2006 by Lane Sharman. In August, the Borrego Water District authorized the use of Permanent Water Credits as a source of local mitigation in its efforts to preserve groundwater for future generations. Both the BWD and the BWX are working to increase awareness of the unsustainable uses of groundwater. Increasing awareness is not intended as confrontational towards traditional irrigators such as farmers and resort owners. Rather, the collective interests lie in finding equilibrium between supply and demand through conservation and replenishment.

To contact the Borrego Water Exchange or to purchase water credits, please visit the web site at www.borregowaterexchange.com or call 858-755-2868.