FACT SHEET 6

August 1998

WHAT ARE MY 

ENTITLEMENTS AS A 

 LIMITED RECIPIENT?

Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA) 

Page 1 of 4

GENERAL

Under the RRA there are two types of entitlements. The OWNERSHIP entitlement refers 

to the maximum amount of owned land an individual or entity may irrigate with water from 

a Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) project. Any nonexempt land directly or indirectly

owned in excess of an individual's or entity's OWNERSHIP entitlement is referred to as

EXCESS LAND. Generally, such land is not eligible to receive Reclamation irrigation 

water while in the ownership of that landholder.

 Nonexempt land means either irrigation land or irrigable land that is subject to

the acreage limitation provisions.

The NONFULL-COST entitlement refers to the maximum amount of directly or indirectly

owned or leased land an individual or entity may hold and irrigate at less than the full-cost 

rate. FULL-COST LAND is eligible nonexempt land directly or indirectly owned or leased 

that exceeds the NONFULL-COST entitlement and may receive Reclamation irrigation water

only at the full-cost rate.

The ownership and nonfull-cost entitlements that apply to a landholder are determined by the

acreage limitation status of the landholder; that is, qualified recipient, limited recipient, or prior

law recipient. The remainder of this Fact Sheet highlights the entitlements applicable to

limited recipients. 

OWNERSHIP ENTITLEMENT

A limited recipient is entitled to receive Reclamation irrigation water on a maximum of 

640 acres of owned nonexempt land. The ownership entitlement is applied westwide; 

that is, it applies to all land in Reclamation projects subject to the acreage limitation provisions

in the 17 Western States. Nonexempt land owned by a limited recipient in EXCESS of 

640 acres is generally not eligible to receive Reclamation irrigation water, unless it is eligible

through a class 1 equivalency determination. However, EXCESS LAND may be eligible to

receive Reclamation irrigation water if such land (1) is subject to a recordable contract, or 

(2) was eligible in the holding of a former owner and involuntarily acquired within the past 

5 years (for example, inherited). 
FACT SHEET 6 

Page 2 of 4

Did the entity receive Reclamation 

irrigation water on or before

October 1, 1981?



The following is a simple procedure for determining if an entity has EXCESS LAND:

How much nonexempt land does the entity own directly or

 indirectly as a limited recipient? acres

Less the limited recipient OWNERSHIP entitlement - 640 acres

Your entity's EXCESS ACREAGE = acres

 (If zero or less, the entity has no EXCESS LAND.)

If an entity's stockholders, partners, beneficiaries, etc., have conformed to the discretionary

provisions, it does not necessarily mean the entity has conformed to those provisions. The

same is true for part owners if an entity has conformed to the discretionary provisions. 

Any land owned by a subsidiary entity is counted against the ownership entitlement of its

parent entity. An entity may not be able to realize its full entitlement due to the entitlements 

of its part owners and their landholdings. No part owner may receive Reclamation irrigation

water on land owned in excess of his/her/its respective ownership entitlement. Furthermore,

stockholders, part owners, and beneficiaries of limited recipient entities generally may not

individually receive Reclamation irrigation water on more than 160 acres of directly or indirectly

owned land unless they themselves are subject to the discretionary provisions. Therefore, part

owners that exceed their acreage limitation entitlements, either through land the part owner

directly owns or leases or through land attributed to the part owner from an entity, may affect

the ability of the entity to realize its full acreage limitation entitlements, if a part owner must ask

the entity to declare part of its holding as EXCESS or FULL COST.

EXAMPLE: Corporation A is a limited recipient because it benefits more than 25 natural

persons; therefore, it has a 640-acre ownership entitlement. One of its part

owners, who happens to own 50 percent of the corporation but holds no other 

land subject to the acreage limitation provisions, is an individual who remains

subject to the prior law provisions. Since this part owner has an ownership

entitlement of only 160 acres, the entity would only be able to realize 320 of its 

640-acre ownership entitlement (160 acres divided by 50 percent equals 320 acres,

which is the most limiting factor for this entity). For Corporation A to realize any

larger ownership entitlement would result in more than 160 owned acres being

attributed to the part owner in question, thereby making such owned land excess. 

NONFULL-COST ENTITLEMENT

The key question in determining the NONFULL-COST entitlement for a limited recipient 

is whether the limited recipient first began to receive Reclamation irrigation water in any

Reclamation project westwide on or before October 1, 1981.

The entityís NONFULL-COST

entitlement is 320 acres westwide.

The entityís NONFULL-COST

entitlement is ZERO acres westwide.
FACT SHEET 6 

Page 3 of 4

 An entity that is a limited recipient will ALWAYS have a NONFULL-COST

entitlement that is LESS than its maximum ownership entitlement of 640 acres.

 The date a subsidiary first received Reclamation irrigation water does not confer 

any right to a parent entity in establishing when the parent entity first began receiving

Reclamation irrigation water.

Only land actually receiving Reclamation irrigation water counts against the entity's

NONFULL-COST entitlement. Deliveries of Reclamation irrigation water to any eligible 

land (directly or indirectly owned or leased) selected as full-cost land will be assessed the

full-cost rate. Generally, the entity can select any combination of eligible owned and leased

land as nonfull-cost acreage. However, any land that is (1) determined to be INELIGIBLE

EXCESS LAND, or (2) required by law to be subject to full-cost rates cannot be selected 

as nonfull-cost acreage. 

EXAMPLE: XYZ Corporation is a limited recipient that received Reclamation irrigation water

on or before October 1, 1981, and has a landholding of 700 acres of owned land

and 200 acres of leased land. Sixty of the 700 owned acres are in excess of the

640-acre OWNERSHIP entitlement for limited recipients and must be designated

by XYZ Corporation as excess land, ineligible to receive Reclamation irrigation

water at any price. The remaining 840 acres (640 acres of owned land and 

200 acres of leased land) will be eligible to receive Reclamation irrigation water,

but if the entity irrigates all that land with Reclamation irrigation water, 520 acres

(840 acres less the entityís nonfull-cost entitlement of 320 acres) of owned

nonexcess or leased land must be selected as full-cost land. (NOTE: If the

entity had first received Reclamation irrigation water after October 1, 1981, its

OWNERSHIP entitlement would remain unchanged, but its NONFULL-COST

entitlement would be zero. Therefore, the full-cost rate would apply to any

Reclamation irrigation water delivered to the entire 840 eligible acres.)

Nonfull-cost entitlements are computed on a cumulative basis during any water year. Once

the entity has selected its total nonfull-cost land, and received Reclamation irrigation water 

on it, that land will be considered its NONFULL-COST land for the entire water year, even if

the entity should terminate Reclamation irrigation water deliveries to the selected land. Any

additional eligible land the entity purchases or leases during the water year may receive

Reclamation irrigation water only at the full-cost rate.

EXAMPLE: Partnership W benefits more than 25 natural persons and first received

Reclamation irrigation water in 1975; therefore, it is a limited recipient with a 

640-acre ownership entitlement and a 320-acre nonfull-cost entitlement. 

Partnership W owns 100 acres and leases an additional 250 acres in District A. 

The partnership is entitled to receive Reclamation irrigation water on the entire

350 acres, but must select 30 acres as full-cost land (350 acres of eligible 

land less the 320-acre NONFULL-COST entitlement). After Partnership W
FACT SHEET 6 

Mission of the Bureau of Reclamation: To manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically

sound manner in the interest of the American public.

The Department of the Interior has established a 24-hour toll-free telephone number (1-800-424-5081) for anyone wishing to report suspected

violations of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA). Anyone reporting suspected violations will be protected under Federal privacy laws.

Distributed by the Bureau of Reclamation, United States Department of the Interior.

Page 4 of 4

begins to receive Reclamation irrigation water on the 350 acres for the year, 

an additional 600 acres is purchased. With this purchase, the partnership must

declare 60 acres as ineligible excess land (700 acres of owned land less the

640-acre OWNERSHIP entitlement). Partnership W will be able to receive

Reclamation irrigation water on a total of 890 eligible acres (640 acres of eligible

owned land and 250 acres of leased land); however, 570 acres (890 acres of

eligible land less the 320-acre NONFULL-COST entitlement) must be selected

as full-cost land. The land selected as full cost must include the 30 acres that

have already received full-cost water during the water year and the 540 eligible

acres the partnership purchased during the current water year.

Nonexempt land that (1) is subject to a recordable contract, or (2) was involuntarily acquired

within the last 5 years and designated as excess by the involuntarily acquiring party, generally

is not considered when determining if the limited recipient has exceeded the applicable

nonfull-cost entitlement.

 If a landholder selects eligible land as full cost, the full-cost rate must be paid for

Reclamation irrigation water delivered to that land, even if that landholder should 

lease the land to someone who does not exceed their own nonfull-cost entitlement. 

For example, Entity X is required to select part of its owned land as full-cost land. 

Entity X selects the 50 acres it has leased to Landholder Z as full cost. The full-cost

rate must be paid for all Reclamation irrigation water delivered to those 50 acres even 

if it is the only land in Landholder Zís landholding.

 Any land leased from a public entity is counted against both the landholder's

OWNERSHIP and NONFULL-COST entitlements.

NEED MORE INFORMATION?

For questions about: See Fact Sheet:

RRA forms requirements for limited recipients 7

How to determine your acreage limitation status 2

What is a landholding change 11

Trusts and estates 12

Involuntary acquisitions 13

Contact your district or local Reclamation office for more information concerning limited

recipient entitlements and information on class 1 equivalency.