FACT SHEET 4

August 1998

WHAT ARE MY 

ENTITLEMENTS AS A 

 QUALIFIED RECIPIENT?

Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA) 

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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

qualified recipients. 

OWNERSHIP ENTITLEMENT

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

960 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 qualified recipient in EXCESS of 

960 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 4

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The following is a simple procedure for determining if you have EXCESS LAND:

How much nonexempt land do you own directly or indirectly

 as a qualified recipient? acres

Less the qualified recipient OWNERSHIP entitlement - 960 acres

Your EXCESS ACREAGE = acres

 (If zero or less, you have no EXCESS LAND.)

For individuals: You, your spouse, and your dependents are considered to be one qualified

recipient with one 960-acre ownership entitlement. Any land you, your spouse, or your

dependents own indirectly through an interest in an entity must also be taken into

consideration when determining if you are within your entitlement.

For entities: 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 qualified 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: A partnership is a qualified recipient, but its two part owners, both of whom 

are individuals and each have a 50-percent interest in the partnership, are 

prior law recipients. Since the two part owners each have ownership

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

of its 960-acre ownership entitlement. To realize any larger entitlement 

would result in more than 160 acres being attributed to each part owner, 

thereby making such land excess.

 If your landholding, or that of the entity in which you hold an interest, consists entirely

of owned land (in other words, you do not directly or indirectly lease land from another

landholder), the following section does not apply to you.
FACT SHEET 4

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NONFULL-COST ENTITLEMENT

A qualified recipient has a NONFULL-COST entitlement of 960 acres westwide, but unlike

the ownership entitlement, only land actually receiving Reclamation irrigation water counts

against the 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, you can select any combination of eligible owned 

and leased land as your 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: Farmer Z is a qualified recipient with a landholding of 1,000 acres of owned 

and 500 acres of leased land. Forty of the 1,000 owned acres are in excess 

of the 960-acre OWNERSHIP entitlement for qualified recipients and must be

designated by the landholder as excess land, ineligible to receive Reclamation

irrigation water at any price. The remaining 1,460 acres (960 acres of owned

land and 500 acres of leased land) will be eligible to receive Reclamation

irrigation water, but if Farmer Z irrigates all that land with Reclamation irrigation

water, 500 acres (1,460 acres less the 960-acre NONFULL-COST entitlement)

of owned nonexcess or leased land must be selected as full-cost land.

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

you have selected your total nonfull-cost land, and you receive Reclamation irrigation water 

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

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

additional eligible land you purchase or lease during the water year may receive Reclamation

irrigation water only at the full-cost rate.

EXAMPLE: Farmer W owns 500 acres that he purchased on October 1, 1982, and 

leases an additional 550 acres in District A. Farmer W is entitled to receive

Reclamation irrigation water on the entire 1,050 acres, but must select 

90 acres as full-cost land (1,050 acres of eligible land less the 960-acre

NONFULL-COST entitlement). After Farmer W begins to receive Reclamation

irrigation water on the 1,050 acres for the year, he decides to purchase an

additional 500 acres. With this purchase, Farmer W must designate 40 acres 

as ineligible excess land (1,000 acres of owned land less the 960-acre

OWNERSHIP entitlement). Farmer W will be able to receive Reclamation

irrigation water on a total of 1,510 eligible acres (960 acres of eligible owned land

and 550 acres of leased land); however, 550 acres (1,510 acres of eligible 

land less the 960-acre NONFULL-COST entitlement) must be selected as

full-cost land. The land selected as full cost must include the 90 acres that

have already received full-cost water during the water year and the 460 eligible

acres Farmer W purchased during the current water year.
FACT SHEET 4

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.

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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 qualified 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 qualified recipients 5

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 qualified

recipient entitlements and information on class 1 equivalency.