Own water? Read these before you sign anything.
Straight, sourced guidance for the people who actually hold the rights: farmers, ranchers, landowners, and heirs. Whether you can lease, what it pays, how the agreements work, and how to avoid the deals owners regret.
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- Can You Lease Water Rights? Yes. Here Is How It Works in Every Western StateLeasing Basics · 9 min
- How to Lease Your Water Rights: The 6-Step ProcessLeasing Basics · 10 min
- Water Lease Agreement Terms: The 12 Clauses That Decide Who Wins the DealLeasing Basics · 9 min
- Water Banking Explained: How State Water Banks Pay You for Unused RightsLeasing Basics · 8 min
- Instream Flow Leasing: Getting Paid to Leave Water in the RiverLeasing Basics · 8 min
Can You Lease Water Rights? Yes. Here Is How It Works in Every Western State
Yes, water rights can be leased in all 17 western states. How leasing works, who approves it, what it pays, and how leasing protects your right from forfeiture.
Read guideHow to Lease Your Water Rights: The 6-Step Process
The six steps to leasing water rights: confirm the right, value it, find the lessee, structure the deal, get state approval, and paper it. What owners get wrong at each step.
Read guideWater Lease Agreement Terms: The 12 Clauses That Decide Who Wins the Deal
The 12 clauses every water lease agreement needs: quantity, term, rate, metering, curtailment, exclusivity, and the traps in each. A checklist for water right owners.
Read guideWater Banking Explained: How State Water Banks Pay You for Unused Rights
What a water bank is, how deposits and rentals work, what banks pay, and the state programs in Idaho, Washington, Utah, Kansas, California, and Arizona.
Read guideInstream Flow Leasing: Getting Paid to Leave Water in the River
How instream flow leases work, who pays for them, and the programs in Oregon, Montana, Washington, and Colorado that compensate irrigators for streamflow.
Read guidePrior Appropriation Explained: First in Time, First in Right (and Why Your Priority Date Is Money)
The prior appropriation doctrine in plain English: priority dates, beneficial use, forfeiture, and why seniority is the single biggest driver of water right value.
Read guideWhat Is an Acre Foot of Water? (325,851 Gallons, and Every Conversion That Matters)
An acre foot is 325,851 gallons: the volume covering one acre a foot deep. Conversions to gallons, barrels, cubic feet, and cfs, plus what an acre foot is worth.
Read guideHow Much Are Water Rights Worth? The 5 Factors and the 3 Valuation Methods
What water rights are worth in 2026: the five value factors (seniority, reliability, location, use, transferability) and the three appraisal methods, with sourced comps.
Read guideSell vs Lease Water Rights: The Decision Framework
Whether to sell or lease your water rights: the decision framework, the math that compares a sale price to lease income, and the situations where each wins.
Read guideFrac Pond & Oilfield Water Leasing: The Landowner’s Guide to Water Supply Agreements
How landowners lease water to oil and gas operators: per-barrel pricing ($1 to $2+ in the Permian), frac pond leases, take-or-pay minimums, and the clauses that protect you.
Read guideWho Leases Water? The 6 Buyer Types and What Each One Pays For
The six types of water lessees: cities, oil and gas operators, industry, developers, environmental funders, and irrigators, and what drives the price each will pay.
Read guideWhere to List Water Rights for Sale or Lease: Marketplaces, Brokers, and State Banks Compared
The real places to list water rights for lease or sale: Western Water Market, LandGate, Utah Water Hub, state banks, and specialist brokers, with costs and fit compared.
Read guideDo Water Rights Transfer With the Land? Usually, But Not Always
Whether water rights convey with property, how rights get severed in a sale, what to check in the deed, and why buyers and sellers get this wrong.
Read guideHow to Find Out If You Own Water Rights (and What They Are)
A step-by-step method to find your water rights in state records: which agency to search, what documents prove ownership, and how to read what you find.
Read guideInherited Water Rights: What Heirs Need to Know Before They Do Anything
What to do when you inherit water rights: confirming what the estate holds, forfeiture risk from non-use, splitting rights among heirs, and how to value them.
Read guideHow to Negotiate a Water Lease: Anchors, Term Premiums, and the Clauses That Move Money
Negotiating a water lease: sourced anchors to price against, what a longer term is worth, two-part payment structures, escalators, and the red flags owners miss.
Read guideWater Lease Due Diligence: What to Verify Before You Sign
The due diligence checklist for water leases: verify the right, quantify what is leasable, confirm the approval path, protect against forfeiture, and check liens and consents.
Read guideHow Water Curtailment Works: Priority Calls, Drought Stages, and What Your Right Actually Delivers
What a curtailment order or drought stage does to a water right, how priority calls are administered, and why the delivered volume, not the paper volume, sets a lease price.
Read guideGroundwater vs Surface Water Rights: Why the Same Acre Foot Is a Different Asset Underground
How groundwater rights differ from surface water rights across the West: ownership vs permit, who regulates them, how they are leased, and where the two systems are now administered together.
Read guideDry-Year Option Leases: How Cities Pay You Every Year for Water They Take Only in Drought
How interruptible and dry-year option water leases work: standby payments, exercise payments, call limits, and why municipalities prefer them to buying farms.
Read guideA Timeline of Western Water Law: From the 1922 Compact to the 2026 Colorado River Rules
The dated landmarks that built western water law and still govern every lease: compacts, treaties, decrees, statutes, and the 2024 to 2026 decisions reshaping the market.
Read guideUse It or Lose It, State by State: Water Right Forfeiture Periods, Statutes, and the Programs That Protect You
How many years of non-use forfeits a water right in each of the 17 western states, with statute citations, the programs that stop the clock, and the official database to look up your right.
Read guideFind out what your water is worth before anyone else tells you.
Tell us what you hold. We bracket its value against sourced comparables and real demand in your basin, then point you at the strongest path: lease, bank, or sell. Confidential, and yours to act on however you like.
- A defensible range, anchored to sourced comparables
- The demand map for your basin: who would pay and why
- Reply within one business day, confidential throughout