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Mr. Sims is a Shareholder in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s Natural Resources, Water & Public Lands, and Land Use groups. Working out of the firm’s Denver office, he focuses on litigation, appeals, administrative and transactional matters. Mr. Sims represents the City of Aurora in its $800 million Prairie Waters Project. This work involves complex water rights transactions, water court representation and tenant, state and local permitting. He also represents the City of Wray on the Republican River compact curtailment issue. Mr. Sims represents lenders on water right transactions as well as water rights developers. Mr. Sims has extensive experience in general water court litigation. He has represented municipalities, the State of Colorado, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the State Engineer in litigation to defend water rights, water integrity and water conservation. In addition, he litigated 30 water abandonment cases in the 1990 and 2000 abandonment list process. Mr. Sims has extensive experience on matters surrounding ground water and surface water conflicts. On behalf of the State Engineer, he co-led the 1996 Amended Arkansas River Groundwater Rules litigation in the Division 2 Water Court. He litigated the eight-week Park County Sportsmen's Ranch case before the Division 1 Water court. He led the 2002 Amended South Platte Groundwater Rules litigation in both the Water Court and the Colorado Supreme Court. Mr. Sims also negotiated HB 02-1414 and SB 03-73, bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly concerning substitute water supply plans and South Platte well augmentation plans. In addition, Mr. Sims co-authored the 2004 Groundwater Rules for New Confined Aquifer Wells in the San Luis Valley. He also co-led the U.S. Supreme Court original jurisdiction litigation between Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado concerning wells that use the Ogallala aquifer in the Republican River Basin. In addition, Mr. Sims has significant experience with the Endangered Species Act, NEPA, 404 and associated federal permitting. Mr. Sims served as the lead negotiator for Colorado on the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program concerning four endangered species. He was lead counsel in litigation concerning recharge water rights for Platte River endangered species. Mr. Sims is the former senior water counsel and first assistant attorney general for the Water Unit of the Colorado Attorney General's Office, where he acted as the primary water law advisor for the State and Division Engineers, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the Division of Wildlife, the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, and other state agencies with water rights issues. | 