R652-30-610. Utah Lake Agricultural Leases

The division will manage agricultural use on the bed of Utah Lake with substantial deference to the interests of immediate upland owners and existing individual boundary agreements. Notwithstanding Sections R652-30-400, 500 and 600 these leases will be issued in accordance with the following:

1. Agricultural leases will be negotiated for historical agricultural use on sovereign land.

2. Lease applications must be submitted to the division by October 1 annually for agricultural use the following season. The applicant shall specify the number of acres requested and provide proof of historical use satisfactory to the division. The director shall waive the application fee or credit the application fee against rental due.

3. Unless otherwise specified in a sovereign land boundary agreement agricultural leases shall be limited to a term of one year with an option to extend the lease for one year at a time. If a longer term is negotiated in a boundary agreement, the lessee shall apprise the division by October 1 annually of lessee's intent to use the land the following season.

4. Leases will be issued only to the immediate upland owner or to another person with the consent of the immediate upland owner.

5. The lessee may fence the sovereign lands under lease. The fence may extend lakeward only to the water's edge and must be withdrawn as the lake level rises.

6. The lease fee will be determined by the division and in consultation with interested parties, who are invited to provide any information that may be relevant in setting lease fees. The division's calculations will be based on acreage. The fee will be reviewed every three years and adjusted to reflect fair market value.

7. A lease issued pursuant to a boundary agreement shall terminate upon conveyance of the upland to another owner.

8. Crops must be harvested from sovereign land before October 1 annually. The land under lease shall be open to the public for waterfowl hunting, upland game hunting and traditional public uses.

9. No land leveling, ditching, or watercourse alteration on the sovereign land will be allowed.

10. Public trust values will be considered prior to issuance of a lease. Lands with significant wildlife, wetland or other values may be excluded from leasing.

11. Issuance of a lease does not exempt the lessee from jurisdictional authority and requirements administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

12. Agricultural practices which adversely affect water quality will not be allowed. Implementation of improper practices, as determined by the appropriate state or federal agency, shall subject the lease to termination.