While Colorado ski resorts managed to rebuff a recent decision by the U.S. Forest Service to curtail some of their water rights, you might say the courts sided with the resorts on a technicality. The USFS says it will now begin taking public comments this spring on a new directive, which would clarify ownership of water rights on national forest lands because the court said the last plan lacked serious public input. However, the courts never said that the USFS was out of line in suggesting that the rights have to remain linked with the ski areas where the water is used. And in yet another lean snow year ski resorts are likely only part of the puzzle the Forest Service is struggling to piece together; communities along Colorado’s Front Range are also likely to start filling the courts trying to demand their fair share of the state’s slim supply of water if snowpack conditions don’t improve considerably. Via Summit County Voice.

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Tags: Skiing, Snowboarding

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