Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Co. v. City of Golden
Issued April 8, 2002

Parties claimed that Golden had impermissibly expanded its use of water under two water rights decrees issued in the 1960s, These decrees permitted diversions up to 4.66 cfs continuously from Clear Creek between May 1 and October 31 based on the calculations of an expert hydrologist. These calculations assumed that Golden would irrigate no more than 225 acres of lawn and would divert no more than 900 acre-feet of water in determining that there would be no injury caused by the transfer.

The Water Court (Div. 1) held that Golden had not impermissibly expanded its use because it had not applied a greater amount of water to lawn irrigation than was previously anticipated, and made no ruling as to whether Golden had increased the amount of acres irrigated. The Supreme Court reversed in part and affirmed in part, holding that while it was true that Golden had not impermissibly expanded its use beyond the 900 acre-feet of water, it had impermissibly expanded its use by irrigating more than 225 acres of lawns.

See the Supreme Court decision