As another 90-degree July day begins, a watering truck makes its way slowly around the Red Rocks Ranch neighborhood, a crew of three stopping to water each young tree.
The grass around the trees, flowers and landscaping on nearby banks has long since browned and withered, and the crew’s only hope is to save the saplings, they said.
In the nearby park, a cherry red water slide, the centerpiece of a children’s splash pad and playground, is fenced off and silent, with no water to serve it.
And around the Denver metro area and beyond, a reported 30 prospective Red Rocks Ranch homeowners are living in hotels, Airbnbs and with family members, waiting to close on new homes that have no water taps to serve them.
Confused buyers, who say they are getting minimal information about the delay, are exchanging theories on a private Facebook page and pointing fingers in every direction — including at the Town of Morrison, the Mount Carbon Metro District and builder Lennar Homes.
“I’ve been continually told when I talk to Lennar that it’ll be another two weeks,” said Mary Ann Mcshan, who signed a contract to purchase a Red Rocks Ranch home in March. “They say the town of Morrison is going to vote, and then they say, ‘Well, they didn’t approve it. It’ll be another two weeks.’”
Information is scarce
Red Rocks Ranch is not part of incorporated Morrison, but the small town of less than 400 residents is the source of water and wastewater for what will someday be a community more than four times its size. Mount Carbon agreed to build the town infrastructure required to meet the development’s needs, but hasn’t yet completed all that work or finished a required update to its intergovernmental agreement with Morrison.

Despite the information Mcshan says she was given, the town has not posted any recent agenda items on the IGA, or scheduled any special meetings on the issue. Morrison’s attorney is, however, meeting regularly with Mount Carbon’s legal counsel on the issue.
“I don’t understand why it’s so secretive,” Mcshan said. “The homeowners are suffering and the parties involved don’t seem to care that much. They’re not communicating with us, and homes are still being sold.
“I could probably get out of my contract but that’s not necessarily what I want. I love the home. I just want information.”
It’s the second time in less than a year that prospective Red Rocks Ranch homeowners have been left in limbo as the metro district continues negotiating for water with Morrison.
Holding firm
But this time, the town is holding firm — as it warned it would in 2024 — on completion of the IGA between it and Mount Carbon, the agency charged with providing water and sewer to the unincorporated development.
“The town is disappointed that future homeowners have been put into this situation yet again,” Morrison Town Manager Mallory Nassau wrote in a July 2 email. “The town has been working diligently with MCMD on a restated IGA … There are currently significant infrastructure improvements that must be completed prior to the town issuing additional taps.”
The issue is not new or unknown. As part of its obligations, Mount Carbon paid to improve the town’s wastewater treatment plant and for the construction of a new water treatment plant.

But the water plant is fed by untreated water from Bear Creek, and while the current supply is enough for Morrison, it isn’t enough for the neighboring development. To tap into additional town water rights, Mount Carbon must pay to build a new diversion on Bear Creek west of the plant, along with a pump station and pipeline to transport the water.
The issue was made clear last fall when the town put the brakes on issuing more taps, saying it’s not obligated to do so until the 2008 IGA is rewritten — an effort that’s been under way for years. It nevertheless held a special meeting in October 2024, granting the district’s request to convert two irrigation meters into 39 residential taps. That allowed 39 homeowners who had also been unable to close to move into the development.
One town trustee issued a warning to Mount Carbon and Lennar at the Oct. 9 special meeting.
“You don’t make promises about water if you don’t have the infrastructure to deliver it,” he said. “I will be pressing the other members of my board to vote ‘no’ for future water taps if we don’t have the infrastructure to deliver it.”
Wearing thin
But Mcshan said Lennar told her a different story.
“The salesperson I worked with said there were five remaining water meters, and if I went under contract that week, I’d get one of those,” she said. “I had the impression I’d be able to close by mid-May. I’ve since learned, it sounds like those five meters were temporary, and used for testing.”
McShan, who sold a home in Denver and is living in her Winter Park condo as she waits to close, said the lack of information is wearing on her and the other prospective homeowners. She also said she and other homeowners are not being compensated for the cost of their temporary living quarters.
“I want to be informed, and to know I’m not making a mistake,” she said. “I feel as someone who’s about to spend a very large amount of money on a home, the homeowners are not the ones who should be caught in the middle of this.”

While Sutton — the trustee who warned Red Rocks Ranch in public about the issuance of future water taps — recently left the board, the town remains committed to ensuring the IGA is in place before it agrees to issue more taps.
“The original IGA dates back to 2008 and limits the issuance of taps based on MCMD completing infrastructure improvements,” wrote Nassau, adding those improvements include ensuring the “town’s water and wastewater systems would be adequately upgraded prior to serving end users.
“We are committed to providing water and sewer to Red Rocks Ranch, noting that this requires MCMD to meet their infrastructure obligations, so we may safely and reliably provide the service to all users.”
David O’Leary, an attorney for Mount Carbon, said in October 2024 that he believed the new IGA would be ready in about a month.
Nine months later, it remains unfinished and unapproved.
And the conversion of its irrigation meters to residential taps has left Red Rocks Ranch with no water for its landscaping or splash pad.
Meanwhile, Lennar’s Red Rocks Ranch website says it is “actively selling” and offering “incredible deals.”
A representative of Lennar, who identified himself only as “Aaron,” could not explain why Lennar continues to sell homes despite its awareness of the ongoing water problems. He said only that they are “caught in the middle,” and hoping for a swift resolution.
None of the Mount Carbon Metro District’s board members returned requests for comment.
“I don’t know who’s at fault,” Mcshan said. “But I do wonder, what was the situation with the IGA? What did they know while contracts were being signed?”