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An irrigation-ditch operator agreed to pay a record $9 million to Rocky Mountain National Park to settle a lawsuit over damage caused by a breach in 2003.
The money from Fort Collins-based Water Supply and Storage Co. will help restore areas in the Kawuneeche Valley that were destroyed by flooding when the Grand River ditch failed.
“Our goal, all along, has been to restore park resources that were damaged by the breach,” said park superintendent Vaughn Baker.
It is the largest settlement ever for natural-resource damage under a federal law protecting national parks.
The question of whether the ditch operators should be legally liable for future damages has held up a federal bill to designate the park as a wilderness area.
