Title: Holversten v. Minnesota Water Resources Board

State: minnesota

Issuer: Minnesota Supreme Court

Document:

188 N.W.2d 923 (1971) Ardis HOLVERSTEN et al., Appellants, Buffalo Creek Watershed District, petitioner, Respondent, v. MINNESOTA WATER RESOURCES BOARD, Respondent. No. 42795. Supreme Court of Minnesota. July 23, 1971. Willette, Zeug & Kraft, Olivia, for appellants. Keefe, Schantzen & Bradford, Hutchinson, Popham, Haik, Schnobrich, Kaufman & Doty and Gary Macomber, Minneapolis, for Buffalo Creek Watershed Dist. *924 Warren Spannaus, Atty. Gen., William G. Peterson, St. Paul, for Minnesota Water Resources Bd. Heard before KNUTSON, C. J., and NELSON, MURPHY, OTIS, and ROGOSHESKE, JJ. PER CURIAM. Appeal from an order of the district court affirming findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order of the Minnesota Water Resources Board establishing the Buffalo Creek Watershed District. The appellants, who are mostly property owners from the upland area of the proposed project in Renville County, complain that the board acted arbitrarily. Minn.St. 112.36 provides that a watershed district may be established for one or more conservation purposes, including control or alleviation of damage by flood waters; improvement of stream channels for drainage and other public purposes; regulating the flow of the waters; providing and conserving a water supply for recreational uses; regulating the use of waters for the purpose of disposing of waste and providing for sanitation and public health; repairing, improving, or consolidating drainage systems; adoption of preventative or remedial measures for the control or alleviation of land and soil erosion and siltation of watercourses or bodies of waters affected thereby; and regulating improvements by landowners of the beds, banks, and shores of lakes, streams, and marshes. In acting upon a petition for the establishment of a watershed district, the Minnesota Water Resources Board is required to determine (a) whether the establishment of a watershed district "would be for the public welfare and public interest," and (b) whether "the purpose of this chapter would be subserved by the establishment of a watershed district." Section 112.39, subd. 3. After extended hearings in this case, the board made complete findings of fact and acted affirmatively on both issues. The evidence supporting the findings establishes that the water-related problems existing in the Buffalo Creek Watershed District are proper subjects of regulation. Section 112.36. The public purpose element of § 112.39, subd. 3, must be viewed in the light of the legislative declaration in § 112.34, subd. 1, that "conservation of the natural resources * * * through land utilization [and] flood control * * * for the protection of the public health and welfare" should be effectuated by watershed districts. The requirement that the board find whether the establishment of a watershed district "would be for the public welfare" is satisfied if the board finds that a proposed watershed district will effectively serve and promote the conservation purposes enumerated in § 112.36. It is unnecessary to set forth and discuss the comprehensive findings of the board which support the granting of the petition. It is sufficient to say that those findings are amply supported by the record. The appellants, as owners of upland property, do not desire to participate in the development of the plan for the management and correction of water problems of the entire watershed. From an examination of the record, we do not think there is sufficient substance to their objections to defeat the actions of the board which carry out the express policy of the legislature that watersheds are the proper vehicle for dealing with a totality of water problems in a watershed district. On appeal to the district court from the findings and order of the commission, a panel of judges constituted to hear the matter expressed this view: The scope of judicial review of administrative decisions is limited. In the recent case of Gibson v. Civil Service Board, 285 Minn. 123, 127, 171 N.W.2d 712, 715, we stated: In Minneapolis Van & Warehouse Co. v. St. Paul Terminal Warehouse Co., 288 Minn. 294, 299, 180 N.W.2d 175, 178, we expressed the view that the main inquiry on appeal is "`whether on the record * * * [the commission] could reasonably make the finding.'" 4 Davis, Administrative Law Treatise, § 29.01. This court further stated (288 Minn. 299, 180 N.W.2d 178): Appellants have not established that the finding of the board that "[t]he proposed watershed district will be for the public welfare and in the public interest and the purposes of the Minnesota Watershed Act will be subserved by the establishment of the watershed district" is not supported by the evidence in the record, considered in its entirety. Affirmed.