A civil lawsuit has been filed against local real estate agent and developer Joshua Saslove and his wife, Nina, for poaching water from a ditch that runs through the backyard of their Red Mountain home.
Saslove has made local and national headlines in recent years for high-profile land deals (he put Prince Bandar bin Sultan’s Starwood estate on the market for $135 million last year) and commercial developments (he and his partners are suing the city of Aspen for rejecting their plan to remodel the Cooper Street Pier restaurant and bar).
The Magnifico Ditch is used to irrigate a string of homes on Red Mountain, and is run by a private entity called Duroux Ditch Company, which filed the suit last week. The company was once run by Basalt Mayor Leroy Duroux’s grandfather, but his family has not been in the ditch business since before the mayor’s birth.
Only company shareholders can utilize the ditch’s water. The suit alleges that the Sasloves don’t own any shares in the ditch, but used water from it to fill their backyard pond and to irrigate the lawn of their Pacer Lane home.
On May 1, 1992, the Sasloves signed a temporary agreement with Duroux Ditch to allow them to fill their backyard pond with water from the ditch. That written agreement deemed their use of ditch water “permissive (and) terminable at the election of the Duroux Ditch Company.”
But the suit claims the Sasloves have since used the Magnifico’s water to irrigate their lawn, without permission. The Duroux Ditch Company is not seeking monetary compensation for the poached ditch water. They are seeking a district court declaration that the Sasloves cannot use the ditch, prohibiting them specifically from using it to fill their pond or irrigate.
Duroux Ditch’s attorneys did not return phone calls Wednesday. Saslove and his attorney, Anne Marie McPhee, both declined to comment.
andrew@aspendailynews.com
Comments
KNCB Moore Old saying: more
KNCB Moore
Old saying: more blood has been shed over ditch water than over women.
Be Brave Josh