We Get Things Done

At HPK, we assist our clients in a wide variety of transactional, permitting, and litigation matters to meet their water needs.  Our legal expertise includes the purchase and sale of water rights; adjudicating new water rights; changing the use of existing water rights; and securing approval of exchanges, plans for augmentation, and other flexible tools that maximize our clients’ ability to use their water supplies.

Often, water demands can be met by adjudicating new water rights or by purchasing or leasing water from other sources.  Examples of projects in which we have assisted our clients in these efforts include:

In other instances, a client’s water needs can be met by developing augmentation or exchange plans, or by changing existing water rights to allow new uses.  Examples of our experience in these areas include:

Once adjudicated, we assist our clients in maximizing the use of their water rights and protecting them from competing interests.  We have assisted our clients in:

Our practice also involves transactions involving water and water rights, including:

We have participated in a variety of other matters involving water resources, including long-range planning studies, legislative proposals, and evaluation of mechanisms for water users in Colorado to fully utilize water apportioned to the State under interstate compacts and judicial decrees.

We regularly practice in the Colorado water courts, Supreme Court, and Court of Appeals, as well as before the Colorado and Wyoming State Engineers and other state and federal administrative agencies.

Through these and other mechanisms, the attorneys at HPK have spent decades assisting governmental, for-profit and nonprofit entities, and individuals in securing and protecting their water rights.

Water quality is increasingly intertwined with water rights and water supply.  Municipalities, industries and individuals generally require a clean source of water for domestic use and numerous other purposes.  Those same entities and individuals must also comply with federal and state regulatory requirements once that water is released following its use.  Local requirements and ancillary environmental issues, impacts to riparian vegetation, wetlands, and aquatic life might also need to be addressed for both water quality and quantity.

At HPK, we represent our clients in identifying the legal issues associated with obtaining and using water of a quality necessary to meet our clients’ needs, as well as helping our clients to meet regulatory requirements after that water has been used.  As such, we represent clients in rulemaking and adjudicatory proceedings before the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission and other agencies with water quality responsibilities.  In our local government practice, we represent cities, counties and other local governments in crafting regulations and policies to protect the quality of the water within their jurisdiction.  Examples of our experience in these areas include:

The attorneys at HPK are available to help our clients understand the water quality issues that may impact their activities, and to assist in dealing with the regulatory requirements that may be imposed on those activities.

The crucial issues that are involved in water law and water rights are almost invariably tied, in one way or another, to issues of accountability in ownership and the lawfully responsible use of the land, from federally owned open forests and fields to state, municipal, and private property. Offering decades of dedicated legal expertise in real estate, our firm continues to represent clients in matters ranging from real estate contracts to share transfers and more. Our litigation practice includes advocacy in state courts throughout Colorado, the United States District Court, and appellate practice before the Colorado Supreme Court and United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. From counties and cities to private entities, our firm has helped with many different aspects of real estate legal services to include:

The use and development of land and water rights in the West often requires the approval of federal, state, and local land management and permitting agencies.  Special use permits for the construction of reservoirs, pipelines, and roads on federal land, Clean Water Act section 404 permits for water storage and diversions, and county 1041 permits for land use changes are examples of the requirements commonly imposed on new projects.  Easements are often needed across private land for roads, pipelines, and transmission lines.  As rural land uses change, disputes can arise among neighbors as to historical access routes and property boundaries.  Land exchanges, fence line agreements, and other real estate transactions can be beneficial in order to allow landowners to make productive use of their respective properties.

The attorneys at HPK assist the firm’s clients by working with federal, state, and local agencies to obtain permits allowing the use of public and private lands and the development of water resource projects.  These matters often involve the application of water quality, wetland, and other environmental regulations. The firm represents several cities and counties in connection with land use approvals associated with water projects and other land use changes.  We assist private and public landowners in the negotiation and documentation of land exchanges with governmental land management agencies.  We also represent our clients in administrative proceedings before state and federal adjudicatory bodies, and in litigation in state and federal courts involving disputes over public lands.  Examples of our experience in these areas include:

We also assist our clients with private land use transactions and disputes, including easements for road access and water facilities, boundary questions, conservation easements, and land ownership adjustments.  These matters include the analysis and resolution of claims for access across private and public land under R.S. 2477 and the determination of the permissible scope of prescriptive and express access easements.