The WAC Conservation Easement is a unique tool for watershed protection. By promoting long-term land uses in farming and forestry, this easement limits development, conserving both the water at its source and open space.

This effort is funded by New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

The WAC Conservation Easement Program offers landowners an option to permanently conserve their land. A conservation easement is a permanent legal agreement that limits the development and subdivision of property. Under an easement, landowners work the land as they always have. In addition, they may mortgage it, sell it, or leave it to their heirs. The easement remains intact even as the property changes hands.

WAC Easements are designed to encourage the continued management of agricultural and forestry lands in a sustainable manner. Landowners also retain the rights of use that are spelled out in the easement, including:

Why are WAC easements good for watershed protection?
As undeveloped land use becomes threatened by sprawl, conservation easements promote the agricultural and open space uses of the land. During the WAC easement process, hydrologically sensitive areas are mapped. This map then directs the easement, so that the landowner works and lives in less sensitive areas of the property while conserving water source areas for the benefit of everyone.

How can you help?
When we acquire a conservation easement, we become a partner in the stewardship of that land. Our responsibility includes an ongoing commitment to monitor, defend, and enforce the easement into the future—for the next generation of farmers and water consumers. Your donation to the WAC Easement Stewardship Program gives us the resources necessary to steward the land in perpetuity. Click here to find out how you can help.

“This land belongs in farming. And since I have no one to pass the land to, the WAC easement will make this operation affordable to a young farm family.”
Tom Hutson, Dairy Farmer
Delancey, Delaware County