Statement of Practice
Civil Trial Practice, Public Lands Law, Water Rights, Water Quality, Real Estate, Land Use, General Business and Business Litigation, Appeals.
Water Rights and Innovative Water Supply Projects.
We have developed and
implemented complex water supply plans for clients such as the Arrowhead,
Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Durango, Heavenly Valley,
Keystone, Vail and Winter Park ski areas and resorts; Exxon Mobil Corporation;
Michael Douglas and his Wildcat Ranch development at Snowmass; the City
of Golden, the Snake River Water District and the Towns of Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs and
Vail; numerous metropolitan and special districts, including the Eagle River Water & Sanitation
District and the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority, which together
provide water service to over 60,000 people in the Vail Valley; as well
as numerous smaller developments, ranches, businesses, ditch and reservoir
companies, and water providers. This work has included complex water acquisitions,
adjudication of augmentation and exchange plans, and water right analysis.
We have successfully tried over 200 cases in the Colorado Water and District
Courts, and argued over 35 cases before the Colorado Supreme Court. We
negotiated the first federal contracts from the Green Mountain and Ruedi
Reservoirs and secured complex agreements with the Cities of Aurora, Colorado
Springs and Denver to provide firm annual yield for West Slope projects.
We have also been instrumental in obtaining millions of dollars of loans
from private and public entities for water projects such as Clinton Gulch
and Eagle Park Reservoirs.
Recreational Water Rights
Our
firm pioneered the successful adjudication of the first large scale, in channel water
rights for purely recreational purposes. In three separate precedent
setting cases before the Division Nos. 1 and 5 Water Courts, and ultimately
before the Colorado Supreme Court, our firm succeeded in obtaining recreational
water rights of 400 c.f.s, 500 c.f.s., and 1000 c.f.s. for the communities
of Vail, Breckenridge, and Golden, respectively. Subsequently, we obtained
recreational water rights for boating parks in Chaffee County, and the cities of Salida,
Buena Vista, and Steamboat Springs, including the State's largest recreational in channel
diversion of 1800 c.f.s. in Chaffee County. Other clients include The American Whitewater Affiliation
and the Colorado Whitewater Association.
Groundwater Matters
We have adjudicated rights to millions of acre-feet
of groundwater from the Denver Basin, obtained Water Court approval for
groundwater remediation projects, and secured approval for numerous developments
utilizing groundwater wells. Our clients in this area also include the
Greenland Ranch, Anschutz Corporation, Sundstrand Corporation and numerous
private land developers. Our firm also adjudicated the first case to apply produced water from oil and gas operations to beneficial use and handled the Republican River Basin in litigation between surface right owners and groundwater pumpers.
Real Estate
We
have handled real estate matters ranging from large ranch acquisitions
to multi-million dollar commercial and residential developments. We have
prepared land use covenants, homeowner association documents, development
agreements, annexation agreements, financing documents, construction
contracts and all other documentation associated with real estate development.
We have also negotiated and prepared conservation easements and non-development
agreements on numerous properties in Colorado. Our clients include McStain
Enterprises, the 200,000-acre Three Forks Ranch in Colorado and Wyoming,
Shadow Creek Ranch in Summit County, Caribou Ranch in Boulder County,
Alpine Mountain Ranch east of Steamboat Springs, Crystal River Ranch
near Carbondale, Flattops Ranches near Toponas, Eagle Pass Ranch near
Heeney, Sunny Ranch near Aspen, Wildcat Ranch near Snowmass, and Meadowdale
Ranch in Larimer County.
Environmental Matters
Our environmental expertise allows us to handle all environmental
issues related to water and real estate matters. In the area of water
quality, we have obtained discharge permits, defended violations of discharge
permits, represented many clients before the Water Quality Control Commission,
and have been instrumental in developing water quality standards, control
regulations, and legislation. We have also successfully represented clients
in matters involving environmental impact statements and NEPA compliance,
endangered species, wetland issues and 404 permitting, hazardous waste
cleanup under CERCLA, toxic tort litigation, ground water contamination,
environmental audits, indemnification agreements and general compliance
with environmental regulations and permitting. Representative clients
in this field include the City of Greenwood Village, City of Golden, Colorado
Department of Transportation, Durango Mountain Resorts, Eagle River Water & Sanitation
District, Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority, Exxon Mobil Corporation,
Little Thompson River Watershed Group, Three Forks Ranch, Town of Breckenridge,
Vail Resorts, Inc. and Wildcat Ranch.
Land Use Matters
In addition to handling
land use matters for our real estate and water clients, we have represented
numerous clients in hearings before county and state land use commissions
and boards. Representative clients and projects include representation
of James Guercio and his Caribou Ranch before the Boulder County Commissioners
regarding special use and development permits, representation of Young
Life before the Grand County Commissioners regarding construction of
new recreational facilities, representation of Vail Resorts, Inc. regarding numerous developments
and projects before the Eagle County Commissioners, representation of the Pine Brook Water District before the Boulder County Commissioners regarding the construction of a water dam and reservoir, and representation
of McStain Enterprises on numerous annexation, subdivision and land use
applications along the Front Range. In addition, we have represented
numerous clients in land and real estate related litigation, including King
Capital, Inc., Ticor Title Insurance Company, Vail Resorts, Inc. and other
businesses and individuals.
Mt. Everest
Befitting
our firm's strong ties to the recreation based industry (ski areas and
resort communities), which forms the heart of our firm's client base,
in 1990 Messrs. Porzak and Browning reached the summit of Mt. Everest
(29,028 ft). In achieving this feat, they became the first American lawyers
to climb the world's highest peak. Two years later, Glenn Porzak went
on to become one of the first persons to climb the so called Seven Summits,
the highest point on each of the world's seven continents.