Designation of Excess Land

FORM 7-21XS
2008 Instructions
(7-07)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR DESIGNATION OF EXCESS LAND
(For Landholders Subject to Certification and Reporting Requirements
of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982)

Bureau of Reclamation
Do not use this form after December 31, 2008

OMB Control No.: 1006-0005

Paperwork Reduction Act
This information is being collected to establish landholder compliance with Federal reclamation law. Response to this request is mandatory in
accordance with Public Law 97-293 and 43 CFR 426.18. Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 30 minutes per
response, including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. An agency may
not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) control number. Direct comments regarding the burden estimated or any other aspect of these forms to
Manager, Land Resources Office, Code 84-53000, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, PO Box 25007, Denver CO 80225.

• A landholder (individual or entity) who exceeds your
ownership entitlement.

GENERAL INFORMATION
“General Information About RRA Forms” (Form 7-21INFO)
provides basic instructions on using Reclamation Reform
Act of 1982 (RRA) forms. Ask your district office for this
form each year to keep current. Refer to the definitions at
the end of Form 7-21INFO whenever the meaning of a term
is not clear to you. Please note, some terms such as
“irrigable land,” “irrigation land,” and “irrigation water”
have special definitions when used in these forms which
differ from their common meaning. Other terms and
corresponding definitions that are specific to the RRA forms
are:

• A landholder who has excess land even if that landholder
does not currently exceed his/her/its ownership
entitlement.
• An entity who agrees to designate some land as excess
when a part owner is over their ownership entitlement.
Your entity’s part owners do not have to submit
Form 7-21XS if your entity designates excess land but
the part owner still does not exceed his/her/its ownership
entitlement (including all indirectly owned land).

• “Land” or “acres” means irrigable or irrigation land.
• “You” or “your” means all types of landholders -individuals, entities, religious or charitable organizations,
trusts, estates, etc.
• “We,” “us,” “our,” or “Reclamation” means the Bureau
of Reclamation.

• A landholder who purchases land that was designated as
excess by the seller without our sales price approval.
Note: This applies even if you do not exceed your
ownership entitlement.
• A landholder who involuntarily acquires excess land.
• A landholder who involuntarily acquires nonexcess land
and then designates that land as excess. Such a
landholder must complete Form 7-21XS even if the
landholder still has ownership entitlement available.

As used in the RRA forms, the term “actual acres” refers to
all irrigable and irrigation acres with no adjustment applied
for Class 1 equivalency. The term “Class 1 equivalent
acres” refers to the resulting number of acres when an
adjustment is made to actual acres for Class 1 equivalency.

• Any party attributed with the land held (directly or
indirectly owned or leased) by the trust or estate who
exceeds his/her/its own entitlement. In this instance, the
trust or estate must designate excess land even though
trusts and estates do not have a set limitation on the
amount of land they can own.

Visit www.usbr.gov/rra for more information.

WHO MUST SUBMIT THIS FORM

WHERE TO SUBMIT FORMS

You must submit a “Designation of Excess Land”
(Form 7-21XS) if you are:

If you must complete a Form 7-21XS, then you must submit
a Form 7-21XS along with your standard form to each
district in which you own land subject to the acreage
limitation provisions. You must submit the original form to

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FORM 7-21XS (2008)

(2)

one district and you may submit copies to the others if you
hold land in more than one district.

WHAT LAND TO INCLUDE
Whether you want to irrigate the land or not, all land you
own that exceeds your ownership entitlement must be
designated as excess. All land you hold will be determined
to be ineligible to receive Reclamation irrigation water if you
exceed your westwide ownership entitlement and you do not
submit Form 7-21XS to designate your excess acres. Your
land will remain ineligible until the appropriate excess
designation is made.
Once you file a designation, it remains in full force and
effect until you submit a written request for redesignation to
your district office and it is approved by us. You must
submit a request for redesignation whenever there is a
change in land designation as excess. Your request for
redesignation must be accompanied by a new standard form
and a new Form 7-21XS, and we must approve it in writing
prior to being filed with the district office. Merely
submitting a Form 7-21XS with a redesignation of excess
land will not change your prior designation.

The second option does not apply to owned land
if the land is not alienable and separable nor to
leased land under any circumstances.
If you are an indirect landholder, you may apply Class 1
equivalency to your designation of nonexcess land if the
direct landholder has already utilized Class 1 equivalency on
his/her/its Form 7-21XS. You should obtain a copy of the
direct landholder's form, and indicate the same acreage as
excess as the direct landholder. If after taking that action
you still exceed your ownership entitlement, then apply one
of the following:

You must provide an accurate legal description or an
assessor’s parcel number for each land parcel you list. Be
sure you break down land parcels as far as necessary to
ensure accurate identification. Group the parcels by district
if you are listing parcels located in more than one district.

(1)

If you hold land both directly and indirectly,
then apply the Class 1 equivalency to your
directly held land.

(2)

If you hold no land directly (or you do not want
to designate such land as excess) and the direct
landholder does not exceed the applicable
entitlement, then use the applicable Class 1
factors to determine how much land to request
the direct landholder to designate as excess
land. Once the direct landholder has completed
Form 7-21XS, obtain a copy of that form and
indicate the same acreage as excess as the direct
landholder.

WHEN THIS FORM IS REQUIRED
You must submit Form 7-21XS each and every year you
exceed your ownership entitlement or when you agree to
designate land as excess due to a part owner who exceeds
his/her/its ownership entitlement. You do not need to submit
Form 7-21XS for this water year if there is no change to your
most recently submitted Form 7-21XS and you are eligible
to submit a “Verification of Landholdings”
(Form 7-21VERIFY).
Your entity has two options if it owns land that is alienable
and separable, and a part owner of your entity requests the
entity to designate excess land because the part owner
exceeds his/her/its ownership entitlement:
(1) Your entity may designate enough land to
attribute to the part owner the number of acres
equal to what the part owner needs to designate
as excess land. For example, a part owner owns
50 percent of a legal entity and he needs to
designate 50 acres as excess land. The part
owner asks the legal entity to designate excess
land. The entity must designate 100 acres as
excess land in order for the part owner to have
50 excess acres attributed to him; or

Your entity can amend the deed to the owned
land to provide the part owner “title” to the
specific amount of land needed to be designated
as excess land by the part owner. With this
option, only 50 acres would need to be
designated as excess land instead of the
100 acres in the example provided in option 1.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
Type or print in ink all answers. You must initial and date
any crossouts and corrections. You may attach continuation
sheets to list information. District name abbreviation(s) used
on this form must be spelled out on the form where the
abbreviation is used for the first time, or on a separate sheet
attached to this form. Please contact your district office or
the appropriate Reclamation office if you have any
questions.

ITEM BY ITEM INSTRUCTIONS
Landholder Information

2

1.

Enter the landholder’s name.

2.

Enter the spouse’s name if the landholder is married.

3.

(a)

Enter the landholder’s, trustee’s, administrator’s
or executor’s street address or rural route
number, city, state, and ZIP code. An attorney’s
address, “c/o” address, etc., is not acceptable in
FORM 7-21XS (2008)

place of a street address. Post office box
numbers may be used only if no other address
exists.

4.

5.

6.

explain how to calculate the maximum number
of acres you may designate as nonexcess.

(b)

Enter the landholder’s mailing address if it is
different from the street address.

(a)

Enter the telephone number where questions can
be directed.

(b)

Enter the name of a contact person at that
telephone number.

If all of your land is of one class other than
Class 1 and has a Class 1 equivalency factor of
less than 1.0, you can divide your ownership
entitlement by that equivalency factor to
determine the number of acres you may
designate as nonexcess. If your equivalency
factor is more than 1.0, you will need to
multiply your ownership entitlement by that
equivalency factor.
Example: If you own 1,200 acres and if your
ownership entitlement is 960 acres and all your
land is Class 2 with a Class 1 equivalency factor
of 0.8, you will enter 1,200 nonexcess acres in
column 7(c) (960 ÷ 0.8 = 1,200).

Check the box that best identifies the landholder’s
ownership entitlement. Fill in the number of acres on
the line provided if you check “Other.” Check the box
marked “Trust or Estate” instead of checking an
entitlement if you are completing this form for a trust
or estate.
(a)

(b)

For entities only: Enter the name(s) of the part
owner(s) causing the entity to complete this
form. Your entity may not exceed its ownership
entitlement, but it may complete this form solely
because one (or more) of your entity’s part
owners exceeds his/her/its ownership
entitlement and your entity has agreed to
designate all or part of its land as excess.

If you have multiple classes of land and need
assistance completing this item on your form,
please contact your district office or the
appropriate Reclamation office.
(d)

If appropriate, enter the Class 1 equivalency
factor for the district in which the land parcel is
located. You may use this column only if you
are subject to the discretionary provisions and
only for land you own in those districts listed in
column 7(a) that have Class 1 equivalency
factors. Leave this column blank if you are not
subject to the discretionary provisions or if none
of the districts listed in column 7(a) have
Class 1 equivalency factors. Again, Class 1
equivalency can only be applied to acres in
those districts that have Class 1 equivalency
factors.

(e)

If you completed column 7(d), enter the Class 1
equivalent acres by dividing item 7(c) by
item 7(d) if your Class 1 equivalency factor is
more than 1.0, or by multiplying item 7(c) by
item 7(d) if your Class 1 equivalency factor is
less than 1.0.

For trusts or estates only: Identify the
attributed direct or indirect landowner(s) who
exceed his/her/its ownership entitlement,
causing the trust or estate to complete this form.

Directly Owned Nonexcess Land
7.

Complete this section if the landholder directly owns
land and either a portion or all of that land is to be
designated as nonexcess. Identify which parcels of the
directly owned land will count against the
landholder’s ownership entitlement.
If you are unsure of the meaning of the terms “actual
acres” or “Class 1 equivalent acres,” please see the
“GENERAL INFORMATION” section of these
instructions and the definitions provided in
Form 7-21INFO.
(a)

Name of district in which the land parcel is
located.

(b)

Provide an accurate legal description or an
assessor’s parcel number. Be sure to break
down land parcels as far as necessary to ensure
accurate identification. Group parcels by
district if you are listing parcels located in more
than one district.

(c)

Number of actual acres in the land parcel.

Example: If you have 1,400 actual Class 2
acres with a Class 1 equivalency factor of
0.8, you will enter 960 acres in column 7(e)
because application of Class 1 equivalency to
1,200 of your actual 1,400 Class 2 acres results
in 960 acres (1,200 x 0.8 = 960). However, you
must still designate the remainder of your actual
Class 2 acres (200 acres) as excess in item 14.
To do this, you must re-convert all class 1
equivalent acres to actual acres. Please refer to
the example provided in item 11.
The total acres in column 7(e) cannot exceed
your ownership entitlement.

For direct landholders with a Class 1
equivalency factor: The following instructions

This column can be used only by landholders
subject to the discretionary provisions and only
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FORM 7-21XS (2008)

for those districts listed in column 7(a) that have
Class 1 equivalency factors. Leave this column
blank if you are not subject to the discretionary
provisions or if none of the districts listed in
column 7(a) have Class 1 equivalency factors.
All land you directly own must be designated on
this form as either nonexcess or excess. You
can verify this by adding the total of column
7(c) and item 12. This total should equal the
total number of directly owned acres on your
standard form.

(3)

(a)

Name of district in which the land parcel is
located.

(b)

Name of the direct landowner (i.e., the entity
that owns land in which you own an interest, or
the name of the trust or estate in which the land
is held).

Complete this section if you exceed your ownership
entitlement and you are a part owner, beneficiary,
trustee, or grantor who is attributed with land owned
by an entity, trust, or estate and a portion of such
indirectly owned land is designated as nonexcess by
the direct owner of such land. Only direct
landowners can designate nonexcess land.

(c)

Number of actual or Class 1 equivalent acres
designated as nonexcess by the direct landowner
(entity, trust, or estate). You must obtain this
number from item 7(c) if no Class 1 equivalency
factor is used, or from 7(e) if Class 1
equivalency is used, on the direct landowner’s
Form 7-21XS.

Determine which of the following situations applies to
you:

(d)

What type of acres were included in item 8(c):
actual acres or Class 1 equivalent acres. You
must indicate “actual acres” if the acreage you
are using was obtained from item 7(c) of the
direct landowner’s Form 7-21XS. You must
indicate “Class 1 equivalent acres” if the
acreage you are using was obtained from
item 7(e) of the direct landowner’s
Form 7-21XS.

(e)

The percentage of interest in the entity, trust, or
estate that is attributed to this landholder.

(f)

Multiply item 8(c) by item 8(e) in decimal form.
This is the number of indirectly owned
nonexcess acres attributable to this landholder
by the entity, trust, or estate.

Indirectly Owned Nonexcess Land
8.

Finds that when Class 1 equivalency is
available in the district(s) and applied by
the direct landholder, it results in the
indirect landholder also being under
entitlement.

• If you have asked a direct landowner to complete
a Form 7-21XS and the landowner has done so,
the direct landowner has completed a
Form 7-21XS for other reasons, you must use the
direct landowner’s Form 7-21XS to complete this
section. Any applicable Class 1 equivalency
calculations will be performed on the direct
landowner’s Form 7-21XS.
• OR, if the direct landowner has not completed a
Form 7-21XS, then all land you indirectly own
through that landowner must be included here.
If you are unsure of the meaning of the terms “actual
acres” or “Class 1 equivalent acres,” please see the
“GENERAL INFORMATION” section of these
instructions and the definitions provided in
Form 7-21INFO.
An indirect landholder who meets the following
criteria must also note in column 8(b) what action was
taken (e.g., I am not over my ownership entitlement
because when the available Class 1 equivalency factor
is used I only have Class 1 equivalent acres) if the
indirect landholder:
(1)

Exceeds his/her/its ownership
entitlements;

(2)

Only holds land through entities that are
under their entitlements; and

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FORM 7-21XS (2008)

9.

For calculation purposes only, please complete the
steps specified below and enter your total for each
step in the space provided to the right of the written
instruction:
(a)

Total column 7(c) for those land
parcels where Class 1 equivalency
is not applicable, or. . . . . . . . 9(a) ______

(b)

Total column 7(e) for those land
parcels where Class 1 equivalency
is applicable. . . . . . . . . . . . 9(b) ______

(c)

Total column 8(f). . . . . . . . . 9(c) ______

(d)

Add the totals you calculated
above. This is the number of acres
westwide that you designate as
nonexcess. Enter this total in
item 9 on the form. . . . . . . . . 9(d) ______

(Form 7-21XSINAQ) or on a separate sheet of
paper and attach it to your Form 7-21XS if you
involuntarily acquired eligible land and
designated that land as excess:
Note: If you involuntarily acquire nonexcess
land and designate it as excess, in general, the
land will be eligible to receive Reclamation
irrigation water for 5 years from the date of
acquisition, or in the case of inheritance, from
the date of the previous landholder’s death.

Total acres in item 9 cannot exceed your ownership
entitlement.
Directly Owned Excess Land
10.

11.

(1)

Identify which nonexcess land parcel you
involuntarily acquired and designated as
excess in item 11(c) by providing the legal
description of the land parcel or an
assessor’s parcel number.

(2)

The name of the landholder from whom
each parcel was involuntarily acquired;

(3)

The date each parcel was involuntarily
acquired;

(4)

The status of the parcel when it was
acquired (e.g., nonexcess or excess;
subject to a deed covenant requiring our
sales price approval for 10 years, etc.);

(5)

If the land was excess when it was
involuntarily acquired, why is the land
eligible to receive Reclamation irrigation
water (e.g., placed under recordable
contract, nonexcess land involuntarily
acquired and designated excess by the
previous landholder, etc.);

(6)

The acreage limitation status of the
landholder from whom the land was
involuntarily acquired (i.e., subject to the
discretionary provisions or prior law); and

(7)

The water rate applicable for Reclamation
irrigation water delivered to the previous
landholder (i.e., contract rate, full
operation and maintenance rate, or
full-cost rate).

Enter the landholder’s name again. (These forms are
often photocopied, so it is necessary to have the
landholder identified on each page.)
Complete this section if you directly own land and all
or a portion of that land is to be designated as excess.
You must identify which parcels of your directly
owned land you want to be considered in excess of
your ownership entitlement.
If you are unsure of the meaning of the terms “actual
acres” or “Class 1 equivalent acres,” please see the
“GENERAL INFORMATION” section of these
instructions and the definitions provided in
Form 7-21INFO.
(a)

Name of district in which the land parcel is
located.

(b)

Provide an accurate legal description of the land
parcel or an assessor’s parcel number.

(c)

Indicate if the land is receiving water, and if so,
what type.

(d)

If the land is receiving Reclamation irrigation
water, list the reason why (e.g., land under
recordable contract, involuntarily acquired,
etc.).

(e)

Number of actual excess acres in the land
parcel. Note: Any Class 1 equivalent acres
must be reconverted to actual acres.
Using the example provided for item 7(e):
Example: If you have 1,400 actual
Class 2 acres with a Class 1 equivalency factor
of 0.8, you entered 960 acres in column 7(e)
because 1,200 acres x 0.8 = 960. However, you
must designate the remainder of your land (200

You must provide the following information on
an “Attachment Sheet for Form 7-21XS”

5

FORM 7-21XS (2008)

acres) as excess because you applied Class 1
equivalency to only a 1,200-acre portion of your
1,400-acre landholding.

excess acres attributable to you by the entity,
trust, or estate.

The actual acres included in items 7 and 11 must
equal the total directly owned and leased land
reported on your standard RRA form. Land
reported on your standard RRA form is based on
actual acres, not Class 1 equivalent acres.
Therefore, if you use the Class 1 equivalent
acres from item 7(e) to calculate the number of
acres that must be designated as excess, you will
arrive at a total number of acres that is less than
the total owned and leased land reported on your
standard RRA form.
12.

Total column 11(e). This is the number of actual
excess acres you directly own westwide.

Indirectly Owned Excess Land
13.

Complete this section if you exceed your ownership
entitlement and you are a part owner, beneficiary,
trustee, or grantor who is attributed with land owned
by an entity, trust, or estate and all or a portion of your
indirectly owned land is designated as excess by the
direct owner of such land. Using information obtained
from the direct landowner’s Form 7-21XS, you must
identify which parcels of your indirectly owned land
will be considered in excess of your ownership
entitlement.

14.

Total column 13(e). This is the number of excess
acres you indirectly own westwide.

15.

Total item 12 and item 14. This is the total excess
acreage you own directly and indirectly, westwide.

Signatures
16.

Sign the form in ink. Both you and your spouse, if
married, must sign the form. This requirement applies
even if the land is not jointly held. All partners, joint
tenants, or co-tenants must sign the form if the
landholder is a partnership, joint tenancy, or
tenancy-in-common. However, you may use a written
signature authorization to permit one spouse to sign
for the couple, or to permit one natural person to sign
for the entity and a copy must be submitted to each
district you submit RRA forms. All trustees,
executors, or administrators must sign this form unless
the trust or a power of attorney authorizes one
individual to sign for the trust or estate. The district
office must keep any signature authorization on file.

If you are unsure of the meaning of the terms “actual
acres” or “Class 1 equivalent acres,” please see the
“GENERAL INFORMATION” section of these
instructions and the definitions provided in
Form 7-21INFO.
(a)

Name of district in which the land parcel is
located.

(b)

Name of the direct landowner (i.e., the entity
that owns land in which you own an interest, or
the name of the trust or estate in which the land
is held).

(c)

Number of actual acres designated as excess by
the direct landowner (entity, trust, or estate).
Since only direct landowners can designate
excess land, you must obtain this number from
the direct landowner’s Form 7-21XS, item 12.

(d)

The percentage of interest in the entity, trust, or
estate that is attributed to you.

(e)

Multiply item 13(c) by item 13(d) in decimal
form. This is the number of indirectly owned

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FORM 7-21XS (2008)