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WHEREAS, Section 5.1.3 of the HCP sets forth a Regional Water Conservation Program (the "Conservation Program "), and implementation of the Conservation Program "will minimize and mitigate the impacts of pumping from the Aquifer by building on the expertise of the successful programs to realize savings throughout the Edwards Aquifer region" with the goal of conserving 20,000 acre feet per year (AF /yr) of permitted and exempt Aquifer withdrawals, of which 10,000 AF /yr will be managed such that it remains in the Aquifer and not be withdrawn for beneficial use; and WHEREAS, Section 5.1.3.3 of the HCP provides that municipal water purveyors which utilize the Aquifer will initially commit to "loan" to the Conservation Program "start-up" conserved water totaling 10,000 AF /yr of Permitted Edwards Groundwater Rights which will be transferred into the EAA's Groundwater Trust, and will not be withdrawn from the Aquifer, and will remain in the Aquifer for the duration of the Conservation Program unless released from the Groundwater Trust as provided below in Section 9.0, but which will still be owned and controlled by the Transferor; and WHEREAS, the Conservation Program provides that after the initial commitments from the Transferor, among other initial contributors, of 10,000 AF /yr of Permitted Edwards Groundwater Rights are made, additional Conservation Program participants (municipal or industrial) may achieve water conservation through the implementation of the Conservation Program elements set forth in Section 5.1.3.2 of the HCP, and that one -half of the conserved amounts of groundwater attributed to each Conservation Program element will be transferred to the EAA via the EAA's Groundwater Trust described below and managed such that this amount will remain in the Aquifer and not be withdrawn for beneficial use, and that those loaned amounts will be allocated so as to reduce the initial commitments made by Transferor and the other initial contributors, on a prorated basis; and WHEREAS, Transferor's participation in the Conservation Program will play a significant role in achieving and maintaining the Conservation Program's stated objectives; and WHEREAS, the initial commitment to the Conservation Program as described in Section 5.1.3.3 of the HCP basically operates as follows: (i) Transferor, and the other initial contributors to the Conservation Program, will agree to contribute and set aside under the terms of this Contract, a total of 10,000 AF /yr of Permitted Edwards Groundwater Rights, and (ii) as other municipal or industrial permittees achieve new water conservation under the 5.1.3.2 of the HCP, those additional participants will transfer one -half of those conserved permitted amounts to the EAA via the EAA's Groundwater Trust, and (iii) the newly contributed amounts in excess of the initial 10,000 AF /yr will be released and transferred by the EAA to Transferor, and revert to the control of Transferor, the other initial contributors, on a prorata basis, thus reducing the amount of initial commitments that Transferor and the other initial contributors have pending in trust hereunder; and WHEREAS, the purpose of this Contract is to implement the portions of the Conservation Program as herein described and set forth in the HCP; and