City & County of Denver ex rel. Board of Water Commissioners v. Vail Valley Consolidated Water District

ROVIRA, Justice.

Middle Creek flows south into Gore Creek, which in turn flows west into the Eagle River near Vail, Colorado. This case involves a dispute between the Board of Water Commissioners of the City and County of Denver (“Denver”) and the Vail Valley Consolidated Water District (“Vail Valley”)1 over rights to water from Middle Creek. The water court ruled against Denver. We affirm.

I

In 1957, Denver commenced an adjudication suit under the Adjudication Act of 1943, §§ 147-9-1 to -25, 1953 C.R.S.,2 to secure a conditional right to divert water from Gore Creek and several of its…