Preservation Program

The Great Salt Lake Preservation Program is a new opportunity for farmers to temporarily lease their water to the Great Salt Lake. Farmers that lease their water are paid for every acre they agree not to irrigate for a certain period of time. That water is then protected (or “dedicated”) by Utah’s State Engineer as it travels downstream toward the Great Salt Lake. 

The program is open to both individual farming operations and entire irrigation companies looking to lease their water to the Great Salt Lake. If you are a farmer who owns shares in a mutual irrigation company, you also may be eligible to participate, provided your irrigation company has signed an Operational Agreement with the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner. Additional eligibility criteria can be found below.

Applications to lease water in the Great Salt Lake Preservation Program close on November 30, 2026. Lease applications will be reviewed and awarded by January 1, 2027. 

The Great Salt Lake is an important resource for Utah’s economy and a vital part of the state's natural history and ecosystem. The Great Salt Lake Preservation Program is an opportunity for farmers to contribute, on a voluntary and compensated basis, to its recovery.

Eligibility Criteria

The Great Salt Lake Preservation Program is limited to leases for water that can reasonably be dedicated to the Great Salt Lake. As such, not all farmers or irrigation companies will be eligible, even if they operate in the Great Salt Lake Basin. The following criteria must be met to be awarded a lease:

On-farm Leases

• An individual farming operation leasing water must enroll at least 5 irrigable acres of agricultural land within any one of the Program’s three leasing zones
• If the leased water comes from shares in an irrigation or canal company, that irrigation or canal company must have signed an Operational Agreement with the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner
• The Preservation Program will only lease with Operators of the irrigable acreage
  • An Operator is the individual, group, or business entity that has general control of a farming operation and makes daily management decisions for the current year.
  • If the Operator is not the owner of the land, water shares, or water rights, then the owner must sign a Landowner Acknowledgement Agreement before the lease can be considered by the Preservation Board.
• The Great Salt Lake Preservation Program can only lease water affiliated with a field for the full season twice in any rolling five-year period.
• A split-season lease must be at least 28 days in length, meaning the farmer must agree to forego irrigation on their acreage for at least 28 days.
• Farmers who own their own water rights must complete a pre-consultation with the Division of Water Rights.
  • Shareholders in irrigation or canal companies do not need to complete a pre-consultation.

Company-wide Leases:

• Irrigation or canal companies may choose to lease their water during a portion of the irrigation season by delaying the date they open their headgate or turning off their system early. The lease is valued per acre of the company’s service area, and is paid more, depending on how much of the hotter, drier portion of the summer the company stays shut off.
• Companies interested in leasing must first sign an Operational Agreement with the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner
  • Companies interested in signing Operational Agreements should complete the Company-wide Lease application (available on Oct. 1).
  • Operational Agreements require the company to submit a 10-year Dedicated Water Application with the Division of Water Rights, which allows for the temporary dedication of some of the company’s water to the Great Salt Lake.
  • Enrollment Bonuses are available to companies that sign Operational Agreements, even if they choose not to engage in a Company-wide Lease.
• Companies interested in an Operational Agreement, a Company-wide Lease or both must complete a pre-consultation with the Division of Water Rights.

Lease Your Water

1. Determine the Price Offered on Your Field

The Preservation Program offers different prices for different areas of the Great Salt Lake Basin. Generally, the closer a farm is to the Great Salt Lake, the more the Preservation Program is willing to pay for a water lease on the field. Other factors, such as available stream-gauge measurement, also go into determining how much is offered in different parts of the Basin. To find what region of the Basin your farm is located, open the Pricing Zone Map at the link below. Different parts of the Basin are colored in the map, indicating what leasing region they are in.

Please keep in mind that not all parts of the Basin are eligible to lease. Many areas lack sufficient measurement to track water all the way to the Great Salt Lake. In other areas, agricultural water rights are supplied by Colorado River water or have return flows that cross state lines before flowing back into Utah and into the Great Salt Lake. These regions may be eligible to lease in the future, but are not eligible currently. They are not highlighted with any color on the Pricing Zones map.

Leasing Zones Map

When you have identified what color zone your field is in, check the table below to see what price is offered per-acre for a full season lease. A full season lease is an agreement not to irrigate a specific for an entire summer. If you are interested in a split season lease, consult the pricing calculator below to see what the Preservation Program would offer, based on any split season arrangement you might be interested in.

2. Review Split Season Leasing Opportunities

3. Complete Your Application

Contact us

Applications will close at 5:00 P.M. on November 30, 2026. The Great Salt Lake Preservation Board will review applications and award leases by January 1, 2027.

 If you are applying for an On-farm Lease and you have multiple fields you are interested in enrolling, please complete a separate application for each field.

We highly encourage you to complete an application with someone in our office.

Please reach out to Micah Safsten ([email protected]), (801) 648-0305 or Owen Ritzman ([email protected]) (801) 520-5307