A Lakewood company claims Aurora stole the idea for the city's $800 million water-purification and recycling project and is seeking up to $100 million in compensation. The patent-infringement dispute centers on how treated water from the South Platte River will be stored underground.

Kenney assessed the performance of cities during the 2002 drought and said the procedures put in place by cities then were appropriate and effective. Not only did they cut immediate water use, but they provided the public with an education about the semi-arid land in which they live.

Mark Pifher will move up from his city post as deputy director for water resources to a new duty as director of Aurora Water, city officials announced Friday, Aug. 29. Pifher, who started at the Aurora Water department in 2005, will assume his new duties immediately.

Aurora’s new plan to transport water more than 30 miles from the South Platte River may provide Brighton and Commerce City with new trails, tax revenues and added water options of their own. Officials from Aurora Water gave presentations to city councils in both Brighton and Commerce City Sept.

The city of Aurora is working on a $754 million Prairie Waters Project to extract water from the South Platte River, treat it and pipe it to customers--a process that will increase Aurora's water supply by 20 percent. "This is the wave of the future," said Glenn Bodnar, drinking-water specialist for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.