On March 4th, the U.S. District Court in Colorado denied a motion to dismiss the federal government's lawsuit against the Grand River Ditch, a water diversion ditch in Rocky Mountain National Park. The owner of the ditch, Water Supply and Storage Company, is also a defendant.
The United States is seeking to recover response costs and damages related to the breach of the Grand River Ditch pursuant to the Park System Resource Protection Act ("PSRPA"), 16 U.S.C. § 19jj. The ditch traverses the Never Summer Range, approximately 1000 feet above the headwaters of the Colorado River.
On May 30, 2003, the ditch breached, causing extensive damage to the upper Colorado River and associated wetlands. Click on the “More Information” link below for the original report.
The defendants had argued that the ditch is not an "instrumentality" within the meaning of PSRPA and is therefore not subject to the act's liability provisions. The court ruled that the ditch was in fact an "instrumentality" under the plain meaning of the word.
