Boulder County commissioners accept Gross Reservoir settlement

BOULDER — Boulder County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to accept a settlement agreement from Denver Water, giving up the county’s right to review the controversial Gross Reservoir expansion in exchange for $12.5 million in mitigation for nearby residents and the environmental impacts of the project.

Denver Water had sued Boulder County in federal court in July, claiming that because it already had federal permits to begin construction on the Gross Reservoir expansion, it was exempt from the county’s land-use review process. County commissioners had hoped to use that process to alter or stop entirely a project that has been unpopular with…