Denver Water Extends Piney River Ranch Lease Ahead of Potential Sale

CEO Alan Salazar sits at the head of the unrecorded boardroom, listening to remote voices from the Eagle Valley, and remembers summers spent chasing trout in these very mountains as a boy. Last month, Denver Water shocked locals by announcing the current leaseholders at Piney River Ranch would pack up after this summer. The 66-acre parcel, tucked high in the Gore Range and wrapped in U.S. Forest Service land, sits just outside Vail’s official boundaries. Denver Water offered a short-term extension while it weighs the property’s future, and that matters because neighbors are suddenly wondering what happens to a decades-old tourism staple.

Spokesperson Todd Hartman clarified the situation in an email, noting that standard practice dictates a water-related review when leases expire. The utility retired its water rights on the property in 2007, leaving no known need for active waterworks. “Our CEO Alan Salazar also expressed appreciation for the tone and content of the public comments from residents of the Eagle Valley,” Hartman wrote in the Vail Daily. “He also expressed his own fond sentiments of time spent in the area as a youth.” The utility isn’t moving fast, though. With the current lease, first inked in 2010, ending in March of next year and the original term wrapping up in 2027, staff are exploring a surplus designation. That simply means the land is no longer strictly necessary for Denver Water’s primary job: moving water to more than 1.5 million Front Range customers. Hartman noted the property is likely quite valuable, even if the board hasn’t run a formal number yet (no appraisal was discussed at Wednesday’s meeting).

Locals know what a surplus designation usually means. It often precedes a sale, or at least a shift in how the land gets used. The current leaseholders, Piney River Ranch, LLC, have kept the place running smoothly through boating, fishing, barbecues, and weddings. “Piney River Ranch, LLC, has been an excellent partner and steward of the property,” Hartman said. The utility made clear that the short-term extension has nothing to do with how well the ranch operates, only with what happens next. Staff plan to present alternatives before the current lease expires in March of next year, keeping Vail in the loop while they deliberate.

Down in the valley, folks are already mapping out their summer trips to the ranch. The gates stay open for now. The water rights are retired, the board is talking, and the mountains keep their secrets until a final decision arrives.