From the Littleton Independent (Heather Sackett):
Discussions began this spring around the same time Littleton was asked by Sterling Ranch, a proposed, large-scale Douglas County residential development, to consider the potential for annexation. The contract, written in 1970, states that areas annexed by the city will automatically become part of the area served by Denver Water. “Littleton’s contract is an anomaly that appears to assume water service will be available for future annexed territory,” the late Denver Water Manager Chips Barry wrote in a March 30 letter to Littleton City Manager Jim Woods. “It appears that Littleton could, in theory, annex to the south, as you did with the TrailMark annexation.” The letter goes on to say that Denver Water would probably not have the water available to serve any large areas south of Littleton. Barry proposed an amendment to the contract that would limit Denver Water’s obligation to serve areas newly annexed into Littleton.
More South Platte River basin coverage here.