Legal Fees Sought After Recreation Water Rights Case

Home Browse Search

Summit Daily News Wednesday, June 26 2002 - Page A7 - -- - - - - -- LOCAL AND REGIONAL - -- Legal fees sought after recreation water rights case Breck, Vail officials claim plaintiffs' arguments were 'frivolous' By GERALDINE HALDNER VAIL DAILY VAIL — Emboldened by a favorable court decision, offi- cials in Vail and Breckenridge want a group of water users to pay for an unsuccessful legal challenge of the towns' recre- ational water rights. "The judge took a very dim view on the merit of their case, said Vail councilman Greg Mof- fet. "Several, if not all, of their claims were frivolous and designed to vex us only." The claim for reimbursement of an unspecified amount in legal fees follows a recent ruling by Judge Thomas Ossola of the Division 5 Water Court in Glen- wood Springs. The claim, according to a preliminary esti- mate, could be as high as $100,000. Earlier this month, Ossola ruled the Colorado Water Con- servation Board and several water users failed to present a convincing case in opposition to recreational water rights sought by Breckenridge and Vail. Ted Kowalski, a legal protec- tion specialist for the conserva- tion board, refused to comment on the judge's decision, citing the board's policy of not com- menting on ongoing legal mat- ters. The conservation board is one of several state agencies that monitor stream flows and act as impartial arbiters between individual water user groups — usually agricultural and industrial interest groups. Faced with the relatively new genre of recreational water rights filings, the conservation board, however, adopted a defensive stance, claiming agri- cultural and industrial uses of water should take precedence over recreational water rights. "The state was arguing that these forms of recreation either should not be entitled to water rights or the water rights should be greatly limited to just enough water to float a boat," said Steve Bushong, partner of the Boulder law firm Porzak, Browning & Bushong, which represented Vail and Brecken- ridge in the dispute. The judge disagreed with the plaintiffs' arguments that tourism should not impact other water users. "Higher flows attract the greatest number of users, spec- tators and competitive events," Ossola wrote, adding that recre- ational water rights are equally important to the state's financial well - being, especially "in a municipality such as Brecken- ridge and Vail, whose economies are based on tourism." With his ruling, Ossola vali- dated Vail's application for up to 400 cubic feet per second, or cfs, from Gore Creek and Breck- enridge's application for 500 cfs from the Blue River. Ossola's ruling marks the second time traditional water users have failed to convince the the lower courts to produce case law that would protect tra- ditional water diverters from the pressures of in- stream, recreational water users. Though new recreational water rights are junior to the rights of down - stream diverters, they are "non- consumptive," meaning no water is removed. Recreational water rights, how- ever, do affect up- stream users, mainly trans - mountain divert - ers, such as the cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs, by limit- ing how much water they can divert in times of low flows. Ossola's decision mirrors an earlier conclusion reached by a Front Range water judge, who awarded the City of Golden 1,000 cfs for its whitewater park, over the objection of traditional water users. The Golden case has been appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court, which is expected to hear oral arguments sometime later this summer and could settle the ongoing dispute between competing water users within the year, Bushong said. A decision in favor of recre- ational water rights could over- turn a legislative bill passed last year. The bill has stalled any new recreational water rights filings, pending the outcome of court challenges involving the cities and towns of Vail, Breck- enridge, Aspen and Golden. Kowalski said the conserva- tion board will object to paying the town's legal bills. Summit Daily file *toXarin Prescott A favorable ruling by a state Water Court judge will allow Breckenridge to receive 500 cfs of water from the Blue River for recreational use, including for its water park (shown here in this photo from May 2001). Town officials now want to be reimbursed for the costs of the legal challenge to its water rights.