Did bulk water sales violate state regulations?

Boulder may have violated state regulations when it recently sold water from a local irrigation well to a contractor who delivered it to a resort in the Shields Valley, though the City expressed confidence no action would be taken.

Crazy Mountain Ranch last week filed a motion to dismiss an $8,000 fine imposed by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) for its purchase of the water,  saying it had been unfairly blamed for potential violations tied to Boulder’s sale of the water. 

From August to October, Boulder sold nearly 1.4 million gallons of water to Bullock Contracting, which then sold it to CMR to water its golf course. Shortly after those sales began, the DNRC informed the city that it lacked the water rights to the well it had been using for those sales, due to a decades-old paper work error.