Lake Hattie Legal Battle Continues
A legal battle over water levels at Lake Hattie will be returning to the 10th Circuit Court again soon.
The case centers around a dispute over acceptable water levels in the reservoir.
The Pioneer Canal-Lake Hattie Irrigation District practice is to fill the reservoir to full capacity of 94,960 acre feet of water when possible. That capacity means that water levels flood the property of adjacent land owners who built their cabins below the high-water line determined by the height of the spillway. Many of the cabins were built when the reservoir was at low levels due to ongoing drought in the region.
The case has been in and out of the courts since 2016. A gofundme page has been established to help with the court costs of the Pioneer Canal-Lake Hattie Irrigation District.
About Lake Hattie:
- Lake Hattie supports thousands of acres of irrigation during both wet and dry years
- It is a major hub that draws anglers, boaters, campers, and other forms of outdoor recreation to the area
- Lake Hattie is a source of water used to fight forest fires and residential fires
- The Lake has the ability to pull excess water from the Big Laramie and Little Laramie Rivers to prevent the City of Laramie and surrounding residential areas from flooding when snowmelt swells the rivers beyond capacity