City of Thornton v. Farmers Reservoir & Irrigation Co.

The City of Thornton (Thornton), a home rule municipality, on November 14, 1973 brought a proceeding in eminent domain against The Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company (Farmers). The property sought to be condemned may be described generally as the water and water rights, ditches and ditch rights of the Standley Lake Division of Farmers.

Farmers is a mutual ditch company, organized and acting under sections 7-42-101 et seq., C.R.S. 1973. The Standley Lake Division is one of four divisions of Farmers’ extensive water distribution system. The legal title of the property sought to be…