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Colorado neighborhood searches for water rights to save community golf course

A Broomfield golf course could shut down because the owner sold water rights
A Broomfield golf course could shut down because the owner sold water rights 02:28

A Broomfield golf course could shut down if the land dries up. Broomfield residents are expressing concerns about what's next after the owner sold the water rights.

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Eagle Trace Golf Club in Broomfield CBS

Eagle Trace Golf Club is located near 10th and Main in Broomfield, across the street from Broomfield High School, which is north of 120th Avenue and west of Sheridan Boulevard.

For nearly the last decade, Larry Cooper has lived next door to the golf course and comes out to his yard to look out over the water. But in the next 15 months, it could all dry up.

"What are they going to do with all the fish and turtles? [The sale is] going to kill them all. That's really a big concern for us and the wildlife," Cooper said.

When the water rights to the golf course went up for sale, the city turned them down. This left another development in another Colorado town to buy them and left residents with a golf course and no water.

Bruce Erley is the HOA President for Eagle Trace, and he's worried that without the value that water rights bring, the course could be left abandoned.

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CBS Colorado Your Reporter in Broomfield Sarah Horbacewicz interviews Larry Cooper about Eagle Trace Golf Club. CBS

"There's an old cowboy saying that whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting, and so, and we don't want to be in the position where we're fighting," Erley said, "But you'd have at least 500 very upset homeowners if we don't find a solution to this."

CBS Colorado reached out to the course owner but didn't hear back. Meanwhile, Cooper and Erley hope the city will send some of their existing water rights back down the fairway.

"We're very hopeful that the city will take a leadership role in reversing what's happened here," Cooper said, "It's a big investment. We clearly understand that, and we're all engaged, and we're all going to be part of it."

Broomfield city leaders declined to interview on Tuesday but are scheduled to meet with those on the Golf Course Task Force on Wednesday night as they work with residents who want the green to stay that way.

"If we can make lemonade out of lemons, that's really our desire is not just have it be the way it is, but have it be actually something that becomes a real jewel for Broomfield," Erley said.

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Eagle Trace Golf Course CBS

Right now, residents are working against the clock as water is scheduled to shut off in November 2026.

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