CODY -- A district judge recently reversed a water exchange permit granted by the state engineer’s office for developers of the controversial Copperleaf subdivision.

Project opponents see the ruling as a victory, but supporters say it’s simply and literally “water under the bridge.”

The exchange would have allowed the developer, Northfork Communities Inc., to remove 130 acre feet of river water annually to supplement the subdivision’s domestic water supply.

District Judge Norman Young of Lander wrote in his decision that the water exchange order was "illegal and void" and instructed the state engineer to “take all necessary steps to expunge it from the public record.”

The reversal came more than a year after Park County commissioners granted final plat approval and gave the project a thumbs up to draw up to 200 gallons a minute from the Shoshone River. Earlier this month, commissioners voted to allow subdivision developers the option to use wells on the property on a strictly emergency basis to supplement the water supply for up to 200 hours annually.

“This has been a long saga,” said Tony Wendtland, a Sheridan attorney representing forces opposing the proposed 131-estate home subdivision. “It’s got a lot of technical water law in it.”

John Parsons, a Copperleaf developer, said the loss of the water exchange is of no consequence to the project.

“Our water rights are old and solid,” he said. “(The exchange) really didn’t have any effect on our water supply. We pursued it as a third backup.”

The subdivision’s main source of domestic water will come directly from the river through a 2005 water right and can be supplemented in low-water years by three pre-existing wells.

“Any one of those wells produces enough water to supply the subdivision by itself,” Parsons said. “It’s a safety net. We have two systems for our water supply, which is more than most cities have.”

“There’s an abundance of water,” he concluded.

However, according to the developers’ petition, the water exchange permit was undertaken because "there is not sufficient water available to provide a full supply of water for the year round uses.”

The petition goes on to read: “(D)ue to the need for a reliable, year-round domestic supply of water for the residents of the Copperleaf subdivision; the presence of many existing wells in the area around Copperleaf subdivision; and the proven insufficient supply of ground water in the area, (North Fork Communities Inc.) believes this proposed exchange is the most cost effective means to provide the needed water supply.”

“That ought to leave you scratching your head,” Wendtland said regarding the developers’ contradictory statements concerning available water.

Recently, Wendtland filed another lengthy appeal of the Copperleaf project on behalf of North Fork Citizens for Responsible Development based on the issue of water rights and subdivision specifics. That appeal is pending review.

In the meantime, work on roads, utilities and other infrastructure has begun at Copperleaf, and developers are accepting deposits and reservations for home sites.

“We’re pleasantly surprised,” Parsons said of interest in the development. “We had a number of reservations from the very start, and we’ve been getting new reservations on a weekly basis.”

The majority of interest has come from out of state, but Parsons said once work actually got started more local interest has been generated as well.

“There’s really not a lot of quality products up here, so people are looking for this quality development both locally and out of state,” he said.

To reserve home sites, people must put down 10 percent of the lot price, with most lots ranging from $190,000 to the mid-$300,000s. The proposed project sits on more than 550 acres along both banks of the North Fork of the Shoshone River about 30 miles from Yellowstone National Park’s east gate.