The Colorado Ground Water Commission granted a motion to stay Feb.7 in the case of the determination of water rights requested by Cherokee Metropolitan District. The commission moved the case to district court.The motion was filed Feb. 1 by the attorneys for Ellicott land owners. Their groundwater has been claimed by Cherokee by virtue of lease agreements signed more than 50 years ago.”This case hinges on the validity of the Cherokee leases,” said Ellicott land owner Marilan Luttrell. “Jody Grantham, the Ground Water Commission hearing officer, is not an attorney and could not determine whether the leases are valid. Our attorneys filed the motion in order to move the case to district court where the validity of the leases can be determined.”In addition to granting the motion, Grantham vacated the Ground Water Commission hearing date that was set for April. “We won’t know the new hearing date in district court until sometime next week,” Luttrell said.Attorneys for the Upper Black Squirrel Ground Water Management District joined attorneys for the Ellicott land owners in filing the motion to move the case to district court.UBS attorney Peter Nichols said granting the motion “puts resolution of the issue of the ownership of the Denver Basin groundwater under Cherokee’s leases, squarely in front of the district court, where it belongs.”Now that the case has been moved to district court, only the land owners who have leases with Cherokee are included in the case. “The UBS, since it is not a lessee, is not a party to the case,” Nichols said.Kip Peterson, Cherokee’s general manager, would not comment further. “This is pending litigation, and it would be inappropriate to speak towards it,” he said. “We’ll have to let it work its way through the process.”
