Clear Creek Heights Mutual Water Association and
Rankin Spears Lateral
Brief History
(Updated October 25, 2023)
The Clear Creek Heights Mutual Water Association was created in 1963 by a group of 11 property owners located in the “Colorow Hill” area of Lookout Mountain to set up a water pipeline connection to the water system then operated by the City of Golden. The CCHMWA, a domestic not-for-profit corporation, began when its Articles of Incorporation were filed on April 18, 1963. Its Rankin Spears lateral piping was laid in 1963 and connected to the City of Golden 12-inch main distribution system piping near Colorow Road and Woodland Road. The lateral consists of about 1000 feet of 6-inch cast iron pipe along Colorow and 6500 feet of 4-inch cast iron pipe. This lateral piping was built, paid for, and owned by the CCHMWA corporation. The 11 original stockowners individually connected their homes to the lateral piping. By 2023, the lateral piping is 60 years old, and there are 30 individual tap-owners.
The CCHMWA Board of Directors met on a fairly regular basis until the mid 1980s. At that time, the Board ceased meeting, and the CCHMWA was administratively dissolved in 1987 by the State for failure to file required reports. The ownership of the lateral and responsibility for its maintenance and repair, however, remained with the stockholders. There was, until 2019, no plan nor ongoing assessment for the maintenance, improvement, or replacement of the line.
In the early years of the lateral, there were few problems with the water lateral, but in recent years, there have been several breaks. Prior to the recent reinstatement of the CCHMWA, whenever a break occurred (which always required urgent action), one of the homeowners would arrange and pay for the repair, and then try to collect from all the other tap owners. That individual would be personally liable for covering bills when homeowners did not pay their share. In 2018, the Lookout Mountain Water District (LMWD), concerned about the aging system, held a meeting with all of the individual laterals to share the need for upgrades to the lateral lines (see “Additional Background on LMWD and Rankin Spears Lateral", below). In a CCHMWA/Rankin Spears Lateral breakout meeting held at the end of the LMWD meeting, participants listed the following reasons for re-organizing:
- Creating (or re-creating) an organization with structure and leadership that would allow the lateral to better plan, maintain, repair and replace our lateral lines
- Assuring that all tap owners are included in the new or re-created organization (not just those currently holding shares)
- Creating a mandatory assessment approach to collect funds with which to operate the lateral
- Possibly merging the Rankin Spears and Crosby Deeds laterals
- Getting an assessment of what needs attention, and creating a plan for improvements
- Applying for the LMWD Lateral Planning Grant, which would allow limited time with the LMWD engineer and attorney
- Moving towards having the LMWD take over our laterals over time (understanding that is a multi-year process).
Following the August 2018 LMWD lateral meeting, a group of Rankin Spears shareholders and tap-holders began meeting to determine how best to re-create the lateral legal entity. State Statutes allowed the CCHMWA to be brought back into existence, and after considerable work (with the assistance of tap owner attorney Tony van Westrum, an expert in corporate law), the shareholders and tap-holders voted to reinstate the CCHMWA on October 7, 2018, and it was reinstated that day. A temporary board was appointed by the one remaining Board member, Lee French, and on February 10, 2019, a new board was elected by the stockholders. The term ‘stockholders’ was later changed to ‘members’ in a bylaws update, and Members of CCHMWA now include every current owner of a property served by a tap attached to the Association’s lateral; new taps may not be added without the permission of the Board and payment of an amount set by the Board. At the same February 2019 meeting, the stockholders voted to create an initial assessment of $500 per existing tap on the Rankin Spears Lateral; that amount was later set as an annual amount and was later raised to $1,000 per tap at the CCHMWA members’ meeting held on April 16, 2023.
Since the 2019 board election, the CCHMWA Board has worked to re-establish all the legal requirements of the organization; to impose and collect the assessment; to find and repair leaks as they occur; to work with the Lookout Mountain Water Lateral Co-op and the Lookout Mountain Water District on determining the needs and timing for replacement; and to work with LMWD and other laterals towards the eventual acquisition of the laterals by LMWD. Repairs and upgrading or replacement of the lateral pipes is the responsibility of the lateral owners, not the District. However, LMWD will assume ownership of laterals once they have been upgraded by laterals. As of Spring 2023, the CCHMWA Board has been working with other high priority laterals in the LMWD system, and with LMWD, to attempt to secure financial assistance that could help mitigate the costs of replacement of the lateral, and lead to its incorporation into LMWD.
Additional Background Information: Overview of the Lookout Mountain Water District and the Rankin Spears Lateral
Lookout Mountain has a unique history of providing water. In the early 1900s, the City of Golden was looking for water of better quality than was available from Clear Creek, and in 1903 they acquired water rights to the headwaters of Beaver Brook on the north slope of Squaw Mountain to satisfy their need. They built two reservoirs in the upper part of the drainage to provide water storage sufficient for year-round use. A third reservoir was built on Lookout Mountain, but their treatment plant was built at the foot of Lookout Mountain in Golden.
In order to obtain the right-of-way for the main water line, the city offered to sell raw water to the landowners who lived along the proposed route (originally mostly farmers/ranchers). Beginning in the late 1940s, developers and neighborhoods began obtaining permission to connect to the main line and install lateral water lines to bring water into neighborhoods. However, the water was raw – untreated – and frequently dirty.
By 1969, there were more than 200 homes, and an effort began to create a Lookout Mountain water district to begin treating the water, but a vote in 1972 was not successful. Enactment of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act in late 1974 meant that raw water transmission would be banned, and treatment would be required. Golden did not want to build a treatment plant on upper Lookout Mountain, and developed alternative sources of water. A second committee was developed in 1977, which proposed acquiring the three reservoirs and the main water pipeline, constructing a water treatment plant near the base of the lower dam, and building a water storage facility. By 1980, Golden was willing to relinquish its rights to the Beaver Brook for a nominal cost. After a great deal of work, voters approved the inception of the Lookout Mountain Water District (LMWD) in 1988, and in 1989, the treatment facility was built. Over the years, many other improvements have been completed, including building the storage tank, the purchase of more water rights, replacing part of the main line, increasing reservoir capacity, rebuilding the Lower Beaver Brook Dam, improving spillways, and more. The LMWD is a small district funded by the tap holders on its lines and operated by volunteer board members. Because of limited water rights, it cannot add more taps.
LMWD is exceptionally fortunate to own its own water rights to a pristine source, and to have major infrastructure in place, which must be maintained. The water rights held by the LMWD are not senior; those with downstream water rights can place “calls” on the river to claim water to meet their requirements, which has happened in drought years.
LMWD owns and operates the water main, and there are about 560 taps issued, about 510-530 of which are active. About 80% of the taps are served by laterals. There are at least 21 miles of pipeline: 12 miles of the main and 9–12 miles of laterals.
When the District acquired the main and water rights, however, it could not acquire the laterals, because they were not owned by Golden. Neighborhood property owners originally constructed the laterals and each lateral was (and remains) independently owned by the various groups of neighborhood tap owners. LMWD requires annual registration of each lateral, and the district is to be informed prior to repairs being made. But all lateral repair and upgrading or replacement costs are paid by the lateral, not the District, except in a case where the District has assumed ownership of the lateral after upgrading has taken place.
There are 3 different categories of the pipelines that provide water on Lookout Mountain:
- MAIN: Owned and operated by the LMWD; the main pipeline. Water comes from Beaver Brook watershed and is stored in the reservoirs.
- LATERALS: Takes water from the main to 2 or more service lines. Ownership organization type varies by neighborhood, but essentially the ownership, operation, maintenance, repair, and replacement is the collective responsibility of those property owners who use that lateral.
- SERVICE LINES: The pipeline connection that moves water from either the main or a lateral to the individual owner’s property. Each individual owner is responsible for the ownership, operation, maintenance, and repair of their own service line.