Concerning the Application for Water Rights for Cherokee Metropolitan District in El Paso County, Colorado Upper…

Summary

The court affirmed the water court’s interpretation of a stipulated recharge provision and its award of costs and attorney fees. The stipulation requires Cherokee to return specified wastewater to the basin for aquifer recharge and bars reuse of that water, but it does not itself determine whether Cherokee may receive replacement-water credit; that question remains for the Ground Water Commission. Justice Hobbs, joined by Chief Justice Rice, concurred in part and dissented in part, agreeing that the Commission decides the application but contending that the stipulated recharge water cannot serve as replacement credit.