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Timestamp: 2019-04-22 04:39:36+00:00

Document:
143 Wn.2d 126, HALLAUER v. SPECTRUM PROPS.
Argued June 27, 2000. Decided February 22, 2001.
WILBUR G. HALLAUER, ET AL., Petitioners, v. SPECTRUM PROPERTIES, INC., Defendant, ERNESTO C. DEL ROSARIO, ET AL., Respondents.
 EMINENT Domain - Private Condemnation - Constitutional Authority - Categories - Separate Nature. Const. art. I, § 16 authorizes the condemnation of private property for a private use in two types of circumstances: (1) for private ways of necessity and (2) for drains, flumes, or ditches on or across the lands of others for ag|ricultural, domestic, or sanitary purposes. Each type is separate from the other. Const. art. I, § 16 does not mandate that each type be treated the same and does not prevent the Legislature from establishing different condemnation procedures for each type.
 Eminent Domain - Waters - Water Rights - Transportation - Right-of-Way - Condemnation - Necessity - Consequence of Appropriative Right. Inasmuch as the law of prior appropriation does not require a relationship between the source of an appropriative water right and the locus of its use, the holder of an appropriative water right must necessarily be able to condemn the property of others so that the water can be transported from its source to the place where it is to be used.
-Right-of-Way - Condemnation - Beneficial Use of Water - Necessity. So long as the use made of an appropriative water right is beneficial, the power of eminent domain may be exercised to acquire a right-of-way over the property of another so that the water can be transported from its source to the place where it is to be used.
 Waters - Water Rights - Appropriation - Beneficial Use -Public Use - Private Purposes. The declaration in RCW 90.03.040 that the beneficial use of water is a public use includes water beneficially used by a private individual solely on the individual's private land.
 Waters - Water Rights - Appropriation - Beneficial Use - What Constitutes - Domestic Use. The use of water for domestic Purposes. such as for residential heating or cooling, constitutes a beneficial use of the water.
 Waters - Water Rights - Appropriation - Beneficial Use - Public Use - Specification by Legislature. The Legislature may specify when a beneficial use of water constitutes a public use.
 Eminent Domain - Public Use and Necessity - Legislative Determination - Judicial Review - Deference to Legislature. In an eminent domain proceeding, the issue of whether the proposed use of the property sought to be condemned is public in nature is for the court to decide, but the court will accord great weight to a legislative declaration that the use is a public use and may defer to the legislative declaration if the declaration is supported by law, tradition, and practice.
 Eminent Domain - Waters - Water Rights -Transportation - Right-of-Way - Condemnation - Beneficial Use of Water - Water Right Permit or Certificate. Private property may be condemned for a right-of-way to transport water from its source to the place where it is to be used only if a right to the water has been established by the issuance of a water right permit or water right certificate, which necessarily requires a determination that the water has been or will be put to a beneficial use.
 Eminent Domain - Waters - Water Rights - Transportation - Right-of-Way - Condemnation - Necessity - What Constitutes. For purposes of RCW 90.03.040, under which the power of eminent domain may be exercised to acquire property when necessary for the application of water to a beneficial use, "necessary" moans reasonably necessary under the circumstances of the particular case.
is to be used is governed by Const. art. I, § 16, RCW 90.03.040, and chapter 8.20 RCW.
 Statutes - Construction -Acts Relating to Same Subject - In General. Statutes relating to the same subject matter are read together and harmonized so as to maintain the integrity of each.
 Statutes - Construction - General and Specific Provisions - In General. Absent a contrary indication of legislative intent, a specific statute prevails over a general statute relating to the same subject matter.
 Statutes - Construction - Legislative Intent - Legislative History - Sequence of Related Statutes. In determining the legislative intent of a statute, a court may consider the sequence of all statutes relating to the same subject.
 Statutes - Construction - Conflicting Provisions - Time of Enactment - In General. In general, a conflict between an earlier enacted statute and a later enacted statute is resolved in favor of the later enacted statute.
 Eminent Domain - Waters - Water Rights -Transportation - Right-of-Way - Condemnation - Landlocked Parcel - Necessity. Private property may be condemned for a right-of-way to transport water from its source to the place where it is to be used under RCW 90.03.040 regardless of whether the place where it is to be used is or is not landlocked.
 Appeal - Assignments of Error - Argument - Necessity - In Brief. An appellate court may decline to consider an issue that has not been sufficently briefed.
SANDERS, J., AND ALEXANDER, C.J., dissent by separate opinion; CHAMBERS AND OWENS, JJ., did not participate in the disposition of this case.
Nature of Action: The holders of a certificated water right to spring water located on neighboring land sought to condemn a right-of-way across the neighboring land so that the spring water could be transported to their property for domestic use to operate a heating and cooling system and to fill ponds for fish propagation. The plaintiffs also had a well on their property. Both properties are on the shore of a lake. The plaintiffs had earlier attempted to obtain a prescriptive easement over the neighboring property, but a judgment quieting title to the plaintiffs was reversed and remanded by the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion noted at 79 Wn. App. 1044 (1995).
Superior Court: The Superior Court for Okanogan County, No. 90-2-00218-9, James M. Murphy, J., on January 20, 1998, entered a judgment in favor of the defendants.
Court of Appeals: The court affirmed the judgment by an unpublished opinion noted at 97 Wn. App. 1007 (1999).
Supreme Court: Holding that the plaintiffs' use of the spring water constituted a beneficial use and further constituted a public use justifying exercise of the power of eminent domain to acquire a right-of-way on the defendant's property so that the water may be transported from its source to the plaintiffs' property, the court reverses the decision of the Court of Appeals and the judgment and remands the case to the trial court for further proceedings.
Owen M. Gardner (of Mansfield, Reinbold & Gardner); and Charles W. Lean and Charles B. Roe, Jr. (of Perkins Coie), for petitioners.
Bevan J. Maxey (of Maxey Law Offices, P.S.); and Diane M. Walker, for respondents.
MADSEN, J. - Wilbur G. and Josephine Hallauer, who hold a certificated water right to water from a spring on neighboring land, seek to condemn a way across that land for transporting water to their property for domestic use, and to ponds for fish propagation. The Court of Appeals held that because the Hallauers' property is not landlocked and alternative sources of water are available, the Hallauers failed to prove a reasonable necessity for condemnation. We reverse the Court of Appeals and hold that the Hallauers are entitled to proceed with their condemnation action.
Madeliene B. Del Rosario own adjacent property on the shore of Lake Osoyoos in Okanogan County. Donald Thorndike was the Del Rosarios' predecessor in interest. In the mid-1970's, part of a bluff on Thorndike's property collapsed, revealing a natural spring. In the early 1980's the Hallauers built a home on their property with a heat pump and cooling system that used water from a well. The first winter, the heat pump froze because the water from the well was too cold for its proper operation. Mr. Hallauer learned that the water from the spring on Mr. Thorndike's property would be satisfactory for operation of the heat pump as well as for supplying water to ponds intended for fish propagation.
Mr. Thorndike and Mr. Hallauer agreed that Mr. Hallauer would apply to the Department of Ecology for a water right entitling him to withdraw water from the spring on the Thorndike property, and when the water right was granted Mr. Hallauer would pay Mr. Thorndike $500. «1» In March 1982, Mr. Thorndike signed the application for the water right as owner of the property, and Mr. Hallauer signed as the applicant. In March 1984, Mr. Hallauer sent a letter to Mr. Thorndike saying the application had been approved and enclosed a check for $500.
Mr. Hallauer developed the spring and installed a pipeline to transport water from the spring to his property for the heat pump and fish ponds. The property on which the ponds are located was developed into the Champerty Shores development, a private community. In 1984, fish were added to the ponds. In October 1984, the Department of Ecology issued a certificate of water right.
«1» The parties dispute the details of the agreement; however, its terms are not important to resolution of this case.
Del Rosarios demanded that the pipeline be removed.
Litigation ensued. Although the Hallauers originally obtained a judgment quieting title to a prescriptive easement across the Del Rosarios' property, that decision was reversed on appeal. On remand, the Hallauers sought, among other things, to condemn an easement for a pipeline to carry water from the spring to their property. Petitioner Champerty Shores Owners Association was added as a necessary party plaintiff because it had taken ownership of the fish ponds and an interest in the spring right. The trial court held that the Hallauers had failed to show a reasonable necessity for a private condemnation. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed. This court granted discretionary review.
Although several other grounds for relief have been argued during litigation between the parties, the only matter before this court is whether the Hallauers are entitled to condemn an easement across the Del Rosarios' property for a pipeline to transport water from the spring to their property for use in the heat pump and cooling system and as a water supply for propagation of fish.
The authority to condemn a right of way to transport water has long existed in this state, both by constitutional and statutory provisions. The chief question posed by this case is whether the showing of necessity to condemn a right of way to transport water is identical to the showing required to condemn a private way of necessity. The Court of Appeals held that "necessity" means the same in both contexts, relying on RCW 8.24.010. We disagree because RCW 8.24.010 does not apply in the context here.
private corporations." RCW 90.03.040. Therefore, chapter 8.20 RCW (eminent domain by corporations), rather than chapter 8.24 RCW, provides the procedures for condemnation. RCW 8.20.070 states that at the hearing on a petition to condemn where the contemplated use is a public use, the court will enter an order of public use and necessity if it is "satisfied by competent proof that the contemplated use for which the land, real estate, premises or other property sought to be appropriated is really a public use . . . that the public interest requires the prosecution of such enterprise . . . and that the land, real estate, premises or other property sought to be appropriated are required and necessary for the purposes of such enterprise."
In order to determine whether the Hallauers are entitled to an order of public use and necessity, we examine both public use and necessity, as the three conditions set out in RCW 8.20.070 are interrelated. See State v. Belmont Improvement Co., 80 Wn.2d 438, 442-43, 495 P.2d 635 (1972); State v. Dawes, 66 Wn.2d 578, 583, 404 P.2d 20 (1965). Also, the public interest condition and the necessity condition "are generally subsumed under the definition of 'necessity'." City of Seattle v. Mall, Inc., 104 Wn.2d 621, 623, 707 P.2d 1348 (1985). The interrelatedness of the conditions is particularly apparent where water rights or rights of way to transport water are concerned. This is because of the adop tion of the prior appropriation doctrine in this state for acquisition of new water rights; condemnation of rights of way to transport water is an integral component of application of water to beneficial use.
Accordingly, we begin by discussing the public use condition as a predicate to discussion of the necessity condition.
As an initial matter, this constitutional provision does not require that condemnation for rights of way to transport water is subject to the same criteria as condemnation for private ways of necessity. The first sentence of article I, sect; on 16 carves out two forms that a condemnation for "private" use may take. The constitution states the exceptions to the rule that private property may not be taken for private uses as: "except for private ways of necessity, and for drains, flumes, or ditches on or across the lands of others for agricultural, domestic, or sanitary purposes." const. art. I, § 16 (emphasis added).
This distinction was carried out in enabling legislation. In 1913, Rem. Rev. Stat. § 936-1 (RCW 8.24.010) was enacted to replace certain earlier enabling statutes. It provides for condemnation of "lands of [another] sufficient in area for the construction and maintenance of such private way of necessity, or for the construction and maintenance of such drain, flume or ditch, as the case may be." RCW 8.24.010 (emphasis added). The title of the 1913 act containing RCW 8.24.010, like the constitutional provision, also sets forth the two types of condemnation authorized for private uses: "AN ACT relating to the taking of private property for private ways of necessity and for drains, flumes and ditches on or across the lands of others for agricultural, domestic or sanitary purposes." Laws of 1913, ch. 133, at 412 (emphasis added).
Thus, neither article I, section 16 nor some of the early enabling legislation mandates treating condemnation for a right of way to transport water the same as a condemnation for a private way of necessity.
Although RCW 8.24.010 was enacted as an enabling provision for article I, section 16, it soon gave way to RCW 90.03.040 where condemnation of water rights or rights of way to transport water are concerned. Rem. Rev. Stat.
«2» In addition to const. art. I, § 16, the constitution also provides that "[t]he use of the waters of this state for irrigation, mining and manufacturing purposes shall be deemed a public use." const. art. XXI, § 1.
§ 7354 (RCW 90.03.040) was enacted as pari of the 1917 water code under which the prior appropriation doctrine became the sole method for acquisition of new water rights. It provides in pari that "[t]he beneficial use of water is hereby declared to be a public use, and any person may exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire any property or rights now or hereafter existing when found necessary for the storage of water for, or the application of water to, any beneficial use." «3» RCW 90.03.040.
This statute was needed in order to implement the prior appropriation doctrine. Before adoption of the 1917 water code, two water rights doctrines applied in Washington. Under the doctrine of riparian rights, an owner of land on a stream or other body of water has the right to use the water. Crook v. Hewitt, 4 Wash. 749, 31 P. 28 (1892). The second doctrine, the prior appropriation doctrine, developed in the arid western states, and "provides that a right to water can be established only by putting water to beneficial use and that the first such use in time is the first such use in right." Charles B. Roe & Peter R. Anderson, Water Law, in 1C KELLY KUNSCH, WASHINGTON PRACTICE: METHODS OF PRACTICE § 91.4 (4th ed. 1997). Both of these types of water rights could be acquired in Washington in its early history.
The beneficial use of water is hereby declared to be a public use, and any person may exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire any property or rights now or hereafter existing when found necessary for the storage of water for, or the application of water to, any beneficial use, including the right to enlarge existing structures employed for the public purposes mentioned in this chapter and use the same in common with the former owner, and including the right and power to condemn an inferior use of water for a superior use. In condemnation proceedings the court shall determine what use will be for the greatest public benefit, and that use shall be deemed a superior one: PROVIDED, That no property right in water or the use of water shall be acquired hereunder by condemnation for irrigation purposes, which shall deprive any person of such quantity of water as may be reasonably necessary for the irrigation of his land then under irrigation to the full extent of the soil, by the mot t economical method of artificial irrigation applicable to such land according to the usual methods of artificial irrigation employed in the vicinity where such land is situated. In any case, the court shall determine what is the most economical method of irrigation. Such property or rights shall be acquired in the manner provided by law for the taking of private property for public use by private corporations.
[2, 3] Where a riparian water right was involved, the water right holder generally had access to sufficient water because water was adjacent to or within the holder's property. «4» However, prior appropriation rights, by definition, do not require that the owner's land abut a stream or other water body. Where appropriative rights are concerned, there "need be no relationship between the source of the water and the locus of use." A. DAN TARLOCK, LAW OF WATER RIGHTS AND RESOURCES § 5.24, at 5-41 (2000). Accordingly, there must be some means of delivering the appropriated water to the owner's land. The authority to condemn property for rights of way to transport water is thus an essential pari of the prior appropriation scheme: "Access to water open to appropriation can generally be acquired by eminent domain. To prevent de facto riparianism, western states passed statutes permitting a water rights claimant to condemn the necessary rights of way to bring the water from the stream to the place of his use." Id. at 5-42.
«4» However, even a riparian water right holder might not have sufficient frontage to obtain necessary water. Early statutes allowed for condemnation of rights of ways to obtain water for certain uses. For example, in State ex rel. Galbraith v. Superior Court, 59 Wash. 621, HO P. 429 (1910), the court addressed statutes permitting condemnation for rights of ways to transport water for irrigation and mining purposes. The statutes expressly granted the right to nonriparian proprietors, and to riparian proprietors lacking sufficient frontage. Id. at 624.
hold with the state courts, when they uphold a state statute providing for such condemnation. The validity of such statutes may sometimes depend upon many different facts, the existence of which would make a public use, even by an individual, where, in the absence of such facts, the use clearly be private.
Clark, 198 U.S. at 367-68, 370. It is now settled that "[e]minent domain may be used to transport water so long as the use is beneficial; beneficial uses are presumed public uses." TARLOCK, supra, § 5.24, at 5-42.
such cases the public welfare is promoted by the increased prosperity which necessarily results from developing the natural resources of the country. . .." LEWIS, EMINENT DOMAIN (3d ed.), § 1.
State ex rel. Mountain Timber Co. v. Superior Court, 77 Wash. 585, 587, 137 P. 994 (1914). The Colorado Supreme Court has similarly said that although the words "private use' appear in the state's constitution and statutes, it "is obvious that they do not mean a strictly private use; that is to say, one having no relation to the public interest. The fact that the Constitution permits private property to be taken for certain specified uses is an implied declaration that such use" are so closely connected with the public interest as to be at least quasi public . . .." Pine Martin Mining Co. v. Empire Zinc Co., 90 Colo. 529, 11 P.2d 221, 225 (1932).
in terms seems to give the power to take for private use, it was evidently adopted upon the theory that the public would be sufficiently benefited by the taking for such a purpose to warrant the taking ; that is, though it be seemingly called a private use by these words of the constitution, it is also in effect a public use in view of the necessities of a state like ours having vast areas of arid land.
59 Wash. at 629. The court explained that the reclamation through irrigation of one small field by an individual promotes the development and adds to the taxable wealth of the state as well as reclamation by irrigation of large areas. Id. at 632.
and increased wealth comes from the effort of a single individual, or the united efforts of many, in our opinion does not change the principal upon which this right of eminent domain rests.
Id. at 631; see also, e.g., Prescott Irrig. Co. v. Flathers, 20 Wash. 454, 458-59, 55 P. 635 (1899); White v. Stout, 72 Wash. 62, 66, 129 P. 917 (1913). The same principle was discussed by the United States Supreme Court in Clark, quoted above.
[5-7] While these state cases preceding enactment of RCW 90.03.040 treat transportation of water for irrigation as sufficiently public in nature to allow condemnation for conveying the water, the statute, like the constitution, encompasses other beneficial uses. Article I, section 16 specifically refers to agricultural, domestic, or sanitary purposes. Article XXI, section 1 states that "use of the waters of this state for irrigation, mining and manufacturing purposes shall be deemed a public use." This latter provision makes the stated purposes public purposes, "but it does not preclude the state, through its legislature, from declaring other purposes to be also public in their nature." State ex rel. Andersen v. Superior Court, 119 Wash. 406, 409 10, 205 P. 1051 (1922). As noted, RCW 90.03.040 declares that the beneficial use of water is a public use.
Uses of water for domestic, stock watering, industrial, commercial, agricultural, irrigation, hydroelectric power production, mining, fish and wildlife maintenance and enhancement, recreational, and thermal power production purposes, and preservation of environmental and aesthetic values, and all other uses compatible with the enjoyment of the public waters of the state, are declared to be beneficial.
state in a wide variety of occupations. We live, more than ever, in a time of limited water resources and expanding growth. Application of water to beneficial use, as contemplated by our water codes, is a crucial factor in sustaining this state and its people.
The legislative declaration in RCW 90.03.040 that beneficial use of water is a public use must also be viewed in light of other language in article I, section 16, which states that "[w]henever an attempt is made to take private property for a use alleged to be public, the question whether the contemplated use be really public shall be a judicial question, and determined as such, without regard to any legislative assertion that the use is public." This does not mean, however, that the Legislature cannot declare public uses. State ex rel. Andersen, 119 Wash. at 410. "The legislature can declare in the first instance that the purpose is a public one, and it remains the duty of the court to disregard such assertion if the court finds it to be unfounded." Id. A legislative declaration will be accorded great weight. Port of Seattle v. Isernio, 72 Wn.2d 932, 936, 435 P.2d 991 (1967); Miller v. City of Tacoma, 61 Wn.2d 374, 383-84, 378 P.2d 464 (1963).
Strict application of the riparian rights doctrine led to problems. The riparian rights doctrine prevented appropriative or riparian development by others, even if the riparian rights had never been exercised. As population density increased, demand for water grew and the vitality of the riparian doctrine began to wane. See Trelease, Coordination of Riparian and Appropriative Rights to the Use of Water, 33 Tex. L. Rev. 24, 25-26 (1954).
1071 (1985). Thus, condemnation of riparian rights was upheld in early cases. For example, in 1907 this court upheld an 1890 statute that authorized condemnation of riparian rights for irrigation, subject to the riparian's irrigation needs. Id. (citing State ex rel. Kettle Falls Power & Irrig. Co. v. Superior Court, 46 Wash. 500, 90 P. 650 (1907)); see also State ex rel. Liberty Lake Irrig. Co. v. Superior Court, 47 Wash. 310, 313-14, 91 P. 968 (1907) ("[i]f [the riparian] is not using the water and does not propose to use it as soon as practicable in the ordinary and reasonable development or cultivation of his lands, then there is no reason why the water should be withheld from others who need and will promptly use it if permitted").
RCW 90.03.040 allows, among other things, condemnation of a water right for a proposed superior use. Shortly after the statute's enactment in 1917, the court held that a nonriparian owner could condemn a riparian's right, where the nonriparian sought immediate use for power while the riparian intended future use. State ex rel. South Fork Log Driving Co. v. Superior Court, 102 Wash. 460, 470, 173 P. 192 (1918).
Appropriative rights thus played an early and vital role in this state's water law, and, with erosion of the riparian rights doctrine, have become the dominant form of water rights in this state. This evolution occurred because of the enormous importance, given the limited availability of water, of actual beneficial use of water to develop land, and rejection of speculative interests. See, e.g., State ex rel. Liberty Lake Irrig. Co., 47 Wash. at 313-14. The importance of water in this state simply cannot be overstated.
We conclude that the Legislature's declaration that beneficial uses are public uses, coinciding with its choice of prior appropriation as the sole basis for acquisition of new water rights in this state in 1917, is entitled to deference.
IDAHO CONST. art. I, § 14.
COLO. REV. STAT. § 37-86-102 provides that "[a]ny person owning a water right or conditional water right shall be entitled to a right-of-way through the lands which lie between the point of diversion and point of use or proposed use for the purpose of transporting water for beneficial use in accordance with said water right or conditional water right." The Colorado Supreme Court held in In re Application for Water Rights of Bubb, 200 Colo. 21, 610 P.2d 1343 (1980) that the owner of a conditional water right was authorized to condemn a right of way to transport water for beneficial uses. The court noted that the ultimate sources of the state statute were COLO. CONST. art. II, § 14 and COLO. CONST. art. XVI, § 7. The first of these constitutional provisions provides that private property shall not be taken for private use without the consent of the owner, "except for private ways of necessity, and except for reservoirs, drains, flumes or ditches on or across the lands of others, for agricultural, mining, milling, domestic or sanitary purposes." COLO. CONST. art. II, § 14. The second provides for rights of ways across public, private and corporate lands for transportation of water for domestic purposes, irrigation, mining and manufacturing and drainage, upon payment of just compensation.
or corporation' " to condemn land for a right of way for " 'construction, maintenance and operation' " of " 'canals, ditches . . . pipelines or other works for the storage or conveyance of water for beneficial uses....'" Kaiser Steel, 467 P.2d at 988 (quoting statute). The court observed that the state constitution allows condemnation only for public uses. Id. The court then described the state's history of water rights, noting that the prior appropriation system had been adopted given that "[w]ater conservation and preservation is of utmost importance. Its utilization for maximum benefits is a requirement second to none, not only for progress, but for survival." Id. at 989. The court held that it was not the ultimate use of the water that controlled the issue of public use, but rather beneficial use of the water. Id. at 991.
Significantly, the court said that while it had held that irrigation uses were public uses in earlier cases, "[w]e do not suppose for a moment that it is the use for growing crops or producing food that has moved this Court to hold as it has concerning irrigation as a public use. Rather, it must have been the fact of beneficial use of water which unquestionably is of the greatest importance to this state, that dictated the result." Id. The court said that "[i]n view of our state's environmental situation, the distribution of water is of paramount importance, justifying the defining of such distribution as a 'public use.' " Id. at 993.
The same is true in Washington. Where water is limited, where water rights do not depend upon riparian access to water, and where application of water to beneficial use is required to hold a water right, distribution of water is imperative and so is the ability to acquire a way to convey the water to its place of use.
 The Del Rosarios complain, though, that if obtaining a certificated water right is all that is necessary to justify exercise of the power of eminent domain under RCW 90.03.040, then the Department of Ecology determines property rights issues which it has no right to determine.
The Department must, in reaching a decision on a water right application, consider beneficial use and the public welfare, as well as whether the proposed use would be consistent with the highest feasible use of the water and with achieving the maximum net benefits to the people of the state, see RCW 90.03.290 and RCW 90.54.020(2).
«6» There is no question in this case that the Hallauers have a certificated water right To provide for the possibility that there may ultimately be a determination that the party seeking condemnation of a right of way to transport water does not have a water right, or has lost the right through abandonment or statutory forfeiture, the trial court order can provide for reversion of the right of way interest to the landowner under appropriate circumstances. See State ex rel. Kirkendall v. Superior Court, 130 Wash. 661, 665-66, 228 P. 695 (1924).
instead carries out its delegated duties, as indeed it must.
As a separate matter, the Legislature has also declared that beneficial uses are public uses for purposes of eminent domain. Whether the power of eminent domain may be exercised is a constitutional and statutory issue legally distinct from the Department's acts in issuing water rights.
Crescent Harbor Water Co. v. Lyseng, 51 Wn. App. 337, 340, 753 P.2d 555 (1988), relied upon by the Del Rosarios, actually supports our analysis. In Crescent Harbor, the question was whether a corporation organized to own and maintain an existing water supply system had acquired a prescriptive easement over Lyseng's property. Lyseng argued that the corporation had failed to allege compliance with provisions of the water code, had failed to join as a necessary party under the code, and had failed to exhaust administrative remedies under water rights statutes. The Court of Appeals rejected these arguments on the ground that a determination of a water right is a different legal matter from the determination whether a prescriptive easement was acquired. Crescent Harbor Water Co., 51 Wn. App. at 340. As the court correctly said, and as is true here, the Department has no authority to adjudicate private property rights. Id.
 Our discussion of the public use question sets the stage for discussion of the necessity question. RCW 90.03.040 provides that the right of eminent domain may be exercised by any person "to acquire any property . . . when found necessary for . . . the application of water to any beneficial use." (Emphasis added.) "The word 'necessary,' when used in or in connection with eminent domain statutes, means reasonable necessity, under the circumstances of the particular case." City of Tacoma v. Welcker, 65 Wn.2d 677, 683-84, 399 P.2d 330 (1965) (citing State ex rel. Lange v. Superior Court, 61 Wn.2d 153, 377 P.2d 425 (1963)).
Court of Appeals applied RCW 8.24.010. That court read RCW 8.24.010 as providing that an easement for transporting water may be condemned only where the land on which the water is to be used is landlocked: "An owner... of land which is so situate with respect to the land of another that it is necessary for its proper use and enjoyment" is authorized to condemn such an easement. RCW 8.24.010. «7» The court reasoned that the Hallauers must show both a public use and reasonable necessity, and they had failed to show the latter because the Hallauers' property is not landlocked, other forms of energy are available to heat and cool their home, and alternate sources of water are available.
An owner, or one entitled to the beneficial use, of land which is so situate with respect to the land of another that it is necessary for its proper use and enjoyment to have and maintain a private way of necessity or to construct and maintain any drain, flume or ditch, on, across, over or through the land of such other, for agricultural, domestic or sanitary purposes, may condemn and take lands of such other sufficient in area for the construction and maintenance of such private way of necessity, or for the construction and maintenance of such drain, flume or ditch, as the case may be. The term "private way of necessity," as used in this chapter, shall mean and include a right of way on, across, over or through the land of another for means of ingress and egress, and the construction and maintenance thereon of roads, logging roads, flumes, canals, ditches, tunnels, tramways and other structures upon, over and through which timber, stone, minerals or other valuable materials and products may be transported and carried.
We recognize that the Court of Appeals analysis is supported by State ex rel. Henry v. Superior Court, 155 Wash. 370, 284 P. 788 (1930). There, the court reasoned that Laws of 1917, ch. 117 is in pari materia with Laws of 1913, ch. 133, which include what is now RCW 8.24.010. 155 Wash. at 374-75. The court read the two statutes together, and concluded that the same analysis applies as to condemnation of rights of way for transporting water as applies to condemnation of property for a logging railroad easement. 155 Wash. at 375-76. The court therefore emphasized that in order to condemn a right of way to transport water, the condemnor's property must be landlocked with no other available water. 155 Wash. at 376.
We conclude that the analysis in State ex rel. Henry is flawed. The principle of reading statutes in pari materia applies where statutes relate to the same subject matter. In re Personal Restraint of Yim, 139 Wn.2d 581, 592, 989 P.2d 512 (1999). Such statutes " 'must be construed together.' " Id. (quoting State v. Houck, 32 Wn.2d 681, 684-85, 203 P.2d 693 (1949)). "In ascertaining legislative purpose, statutes which stand in pari materia are to be read together as constituting a unified whole, to the end that a harmonious, total statutory scheme evolves which maintains the integrity of the respective statutes." State v. Wright, 84 Wn.2d 645, 650, 529 P.2d 453 (1974). If the statutes irreconcilably conflict, the more specific statute will prevail, unless there is legislative intent that the more general statute controls. Wark v. Wash. Nat'1 Guard, 87 Wn.2d 864, 867, 557 P.2d 844 (1976); Pearce v. G.R. Kirk Co., 22 Wn. App. 323, 327, 589 P.2d 302 (1979). Courts also consider the sequence of all statutes relating to the same subject matter. Tunstall v. Bergeson, 141 Wn.2d 201, 211, 5 P.3d 691 (2000), pet. for cert. filed (Wash. Jan. 4, 2001).
In applying the same standard of necessity to condemnation of rights of way for transporting water as applies to private ways of necessity under RCW 8.24.010, the analysis in State ex rel. Henry failed to give any effect to RCW 90.03.040. Both statutes contemplate rights of way for transporting water. RCW 8.24.010 provides for the right of eminent domain if the condemnor's land is so situated that a right of way across the land of another to transport water for agricultural, domestic, and sanitary purposes is necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of the condemnor's land. RCW 90.03.040 provides for the right of eminent domain to any person if necessary for the application of water to beneficial use.
Although the goal is to read statutes related to the same subject together if possible, there is an obvious conflict between the statutes where rights of way to transport water are concerned. RCW 90.03.040 is the more specific of the statutes regarding condemnation for transportation of water and is also the later of the enactments. These two factors indicate that insofar as the statutes conflict, RCW 90.03.040 prevails. Wark, 87 Wn.2d at 867; Pearce, 22 Wn. App. at 327. This does not mean that RCW 8.24.010 is without import. That statute still applies insofar as condemnation of private ways of necessity are condemned, both prescribing whether eminent domain for such ways is authorized and defining such ways. It also may be relied upon where condemnation of a right of way for drains, flumes, or ditches for agricultural, domestic or sanitary purposes is necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of the condemnor's land, i.e., landlocked land. It cannot apply, however, to preclude condemnation of rights of ways to transport water as authorized by RCW 90.03.040. To the extent that State ex rel. Henry is to the contrary, it is overruled.
At the time and place appointed for hearing said petition, or to which the same may have been adjourned, if the court or judge thereof shall have satisfactory proof that all parties interested in the land, real estate, premises, or other property described in said petition, have been duly served with said notice as above prescribed, and shall be further satisfied by competent proof that the contemplated use for which the land, real estate, premises or other property sought to be appropriated is really a public use, or is for a private use for a private way of necessity, and that the public interest requires the prosecution of such enterprise, or the private use is for a private way of necessity, and that the land, real estate, premises or other property sought to be appropriated are required and necessary for the purposes of such enterprise, the court or judge thereof may make an order, to be recorded in the minutes of said court, directing that a jury be summoned, or called, in the manner provided by law, to ascertain the compensation which shall be made for the land, real estate, premises or other property sought to be appropriated, unless a jury be waived as in other civil cases in courts of record, in the manner prescribed by law.
«9» The codification of the statute has changed, although its wording has remainec unchanged since the date of enactment.
This court has on several occasions addressed necessity as the need for the right of way to transport the water through the land of another in order to use it for a sufficiently public purpose. See State ex rel. Ballard v. Superior Court, 114 Wash. 663, 195 P. 1051 (1921); State ex rel Kirkendall, 130 Wash. 661. In Mack, the appellants held two appropriative water rights. They acquired a right of way for transporting water under the first right over the respondent's property by adverse user. The system for conveying the water consisted of a small wooden dam and a two-inch pipeline. After acquiring the second water right, the appellants went on respondent's land and constructed a new concrete dam upstream from the diversion point used by respondent for withdrawing water under water rights held by respondent.
«10» There is also no question of the validity of RCW 90.03.040. First, it is a statute of the type approved by the United States Supreme Court in Clark v. Nash, 198 U.S. 361, 25 S. Ct. 676, 49 L. Ed. 1085 (1905). Second, the court has held that the statute is a valid exercise of legislative power. State ex rel. Gibson v. Superior Court, 147 Wash. 520, 523, 266 P. 198 (1928).
stream passed through the property. Id. at 588. Thus, we recognized the statutory necessity standard, i.e., reasonable necessity for the application of the water to beneficial use. See also Canyon View Irrig. Co. v. Twin Falls Canal Co., 101 Idaho 604, 610, 619 P.2d 122 (1980) (necessity requirement satisfied where alternate route would involve excessive cost and there was no natural waterway to transport water by gravity).
Because RCW 90.03.040 provides for condemnation of rights of way to transport water for application to beneficial use, the Del Rosarios and the Court of Appeals have mistakenly relied on cases involving private ways of necessity where necessity largely turned on the landlocked nature of the land of the party seeking condemnation.
The Hallauers propose to use water under their certificated water right for use in their heat pump and cooling system, and for fish propagation. Their domestic use of water is clearly a beneficial use falling within the Legislature's declaration that beneficial uses are public uses. See RCW 90.54.020; State ex rel Gibson, 147 Wash. at 523 ("[t]he advantageous use of the water on the lands for domestic purposes clearly appears"); State ex rel. Andersen, 119 Wash. 406. It is also a use that the constitution expressly recognizes as supporting condemnation for a "private purpose." See const. art. I, § 16.
The necessity for the right of way is obvious. The water right that the Hallauers hold allows withdrawal of water from the spring on the Del Rosarios land. The only way in which the water can be conveyed to the Hallauers' property is over or through the Del Rosarios' land.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeals' holding that necessity has not been established must be reversed.
and fail to address the rules for appellate procedure. In light of those rules, we have doubts about the correctness of their claim, but decline to address the issue in the absence of sufficient briefing. See Havens v. C & D Plastics, Inc., 124 Wn.2d 158, 169, 876 P.2d 435 (1994); State v. Hill, 123 Wa.2d 641, 648, 870 P.2d 313 (1994).
The Court of Appeals is reversed, and this case is remanded for further proceedings.
SMITH, JOHNSON, IRELAND, AND BRIDGE, JJ., AND GUY AND TALMADGE, JJ. Pro Tem., concur.
SANDERS, J. (dissenting) - Wilbur and Josephine Hallauer contend the trial court and Court of Appeals erred when each dismissed their complaint to condemn a private way of necessity, and a majority of our court agrees a private right of condemnation is available under these circumstances. Specifically, the issue here is whether a certified water right entitles private parties to condemn land "necessary" to utilize that water right notwithstanding other sources of water available for their use absent condemnation.
«11» Because chapter 8.24 RCW does not apply in this case, our comments do not have any bearing on when attorney fees might be awarded under RCW 8.24.030. Following remand and further proceedings, the Del Rosarios may be entitled to attorney fees under chapter 8.25 RCW. The provisions of that chapter obviously cannot be applied at this stage of proceedings.
An owner, or one entitled to the beneficial use, of land which is so situate with respect to the land of another that it is necessary for its proper use and enjoyment to have and maintain a private way of necessity or to construct or maintain any drain, flume or ditch, on, across, over or through the land of such other, for agricultural, domestic or sanitary purposes, may condemn and take lands of such other sufficient in area for the construction and maintenance of such private way of necessity, or for the construction and maintenance of such drain, flume or ditch, as the case may be.
without any showing of public necessity, it must be strictly construed and limited to that which is expressly conferred or necessarily implied. Jobe v. Weyerhaeuser Co., 37 Wn. App. 718, 724, 684 P.2d 719 (1984) (" 'Whatever is not plainly given is to be construed as withheld.' ") (quoting 1 JULIUS L. SACKMAN, NICHOLS ON EMINENT DOMAIN § 3.213 (3d rev. ed. 1981)).
The Hallauers correctly note property owners have a vested interest in water rights to the extent the rights have been beneficially used. See Dep't of Ecology v. Adsit, 103 Wn.2d 698, 705, 694 P.2d 1065 (1985) (citing Dep't of Ecology v. Acquavella, 100 Wn.2d 651, 655, 674 P.2d 160 (1983)). From this the Hallauers argue condemnation of a private way of necessity is required for the proper use and enjoyment of the underlying property right-the water right. Supp'l Br. of Pet'rs at 16-17. However this novel argument is neither supported by the plain language of RCW 8.24.010 nor the common law.
"Land, in the most general sense, comprehends any ground, soil, or earth whatsoever; as fields, meadows, pastures, woods, moors, waters, marshes, furzes, and heath."
King County v. Tax Comm'n, 63 Wn.2d 393, 397, 387 P.2d 756 (1963). Accordingly, the terms "land" and "property right" are not interchangeable as the Hallauers suggest. Because RCW 8.24.010 must be strictly construed and limited to that which is expressly conferred or necessarily implied, the plain language of the statute does not support condemnation of a private way of necessity unless it is necessary to the proper use and enjoyment of one's land. Jobe, 37 Wn. App. at 724.
Just as the plain language of RCW 8.24.010 does not support the Hallauers' argument, there are no cases permitting condemnation of a private way of necessity to access water without a finding such water is necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of the land itself. The majority asserts the Court of Appeals "mistakenly relied on cases involving private ways of necessity where necessity largely turned on the landlocked nature of the land of the party seeking condemnation." Majority at 150. I disagree. The Court of Appeals and Ernesto and Madeliene Del Rosario do rely on cases where private ways of necessity were granted to landlocked property owners, but it is not the landlocked nature of the property which is determinative. These cases turn on whether the property would be rendered useless but for the condemnation.
only source of water and the land of the.relators, that it is necessary for its proper use and enjoyment to have and maintain a private way of necessity for a pumping location and pipe line on and across relators' land to force and carry water for irrigation purposes to the respondent's orchard, else the orchard will become worthless.
Henry, 155 Wash. at 376. Because the only source of water was located on another's property and the orchard would be worthless without irrigation, we held the landowner adequately proved necessity of a private way for the use and enjoyment of his land. Here, however, it is uncontested the Hallauers have three alternative sources of water and several reasonably priced and readily available mechanical alternatives to heat and cool their home. Clerk's Papers at 830-31. Thus Henry is clearly distinguishable, as the Hallauers have not demonstrated the water from the Del Rosarios's spring is necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of their land.
Even the Hallauers rely on a line of cases similar to Henry to support their argument. See Br. of Appellant at 31-34 (citing State ex rel. Galbraith v. Superior Court, 59 Wash. 621, 110 P. 429 (1910); White v. Stout, 72 Wash. 62, 129 P. 917 (1913); State ex rel. Gibson v. Superior Court, 147 Wash. 520, 266 P. 198 (1928); State ex rel. Kirkendall v. Superior Court, 130 Wash. 661, 228 P. 695 (1924)). Like Henry, these cases permit condemnation for a private way of necessity only when the water sought to be transported is necessary for the use and enjoyment of the condemnor's land.
rel. Andersen v. Superior Court, 119 Wash. 406, 408, 205 P. 1051 (1922) (condemnation allowed because water supply is the only one available and without water, the property will be uninhabitable).
Similarly, in White we considered a decision granting condemnation for a right of way for an irrigation ditch. There, two adjacent landowners had riparian rights to a stream flowing by both properties. In order to irrigate his property with this sole source of water the defendant placed a ditch across his neighbor's upland property. Citing Galbraith we noted, "[t]here can be no doubt of the defendants' right to condemn a right of way for irrigation over the plaintiffs lands," White, 72 Wash. at 66, because "the defendants alleged necessity for the ditches for irrigation and for rights of way across plaintiffs lands." Id. at 63. Condemnation was therefore permitted.
They have acquired the right to take and divert from that point on the creek one cubic foot of water per second; this by permit duly issued to them by the state supervisor of hydraulics. So, their condemnation proceeding here on review is in no sense a seeking to acquire any water rights, but is alone a seeking to acquire the right of way in question.
About 40 acres of Wiltz's land is capable of being irrigated by gravity from the waters of the creek, and thus its productiveness be very materially increased, providing he can acquire a right of way for an irrigation ditch over Kirkendall's land from an intake on the creek above Kirkendall's land; otherwise, because of the nature of the creek, very little of Wiltz's land can be effectually irrigated by gravitation from the waters of the creek, and he has no other means of effectually irrigating any substantial portion of his land.
Kirkendall, 130 Wash. at 662 (emphasis added). Because of this necessity-and despite the fact the landowner did not conclusively have a right to take the necessary water-the court affirmed the grant of condemnation. Id. at 665-66.
Thus, these cases do not stand for the proposition that a private way of necessity for a water pipeline may be condemned simply if the right of way is "necessary" to use and enjoy a particular water right. Rather, Washington precedent clearly holds the water itself must be necessary to the use and enjoyment of one's land before the courts will allow condemnation of a private way of necessity to transport the water. Accordingly, the trial court and the Court of Appeals did not err by considering whether the water to be transported onto the Hallauers' property is necessary to the proper use and enjoyment of their land.
furnishing a quantity of fresh water so limited as to be insufficient for any practical purpose. The portion of the creek flowing the short distance across his land does not furnish him any fresh water supply thereon, by reason of the salt water tide coming into it there.
Gibson, 147 Wash. at 521.
When a water right certificate has been issued pursuant to the 1917 water code, this section (RCW 90.03.040) does not require that questions of public welfare and necessity for the water right be reconsidered. Rather, the only prerequisite to condemnation of a pipeline easement under this section, is that it be "found necessary for ... the application of water to any beneficial use."
As the majority notes, the standards for issuing new water rights are contained in RCW 90.03.290 and require applicants to meet a four-part test. If the Department of Ecology finds (1) there is water available for appropriation, (2) the water is proposed to be utilized for a beneficial use, (3) the appropriation will not impair existing rights, and (4) the appropriation will not be detrimental to the public welfare, then it shall issue a water right permit. The majority takes pains to establish beneficial use is properly characterized as public use for purposes of the eminent domain statute. Majority at 140-44. While the Department may make a determination regarding whether a use is beneficial, it makes r.o determination regarding whether the use is necessary. The majority ignores that the terms "beneficial" and "necessary" are not synonymous when it concludes RCW 90.03.040 requires no showing of necessity apart from showing condemnation itself is necessary to apply water to a beneficial use.
(RCW 8.24.010). 155 Wash. at 374. Statutes that are in pari materia must be read together as constituting one law. Champion v. Shoreline Sch. Dist. No. 412, 81 Wn.2d 672, 674, 504 P.2d 304 (1972). Thus, RCW 8.24.010 must be read in conjunction with RCW 90.03.040 and the Hallauers must demonstrate the water they seek to convey by private way is necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of their land. The majority summarily dismisses the precedent set by the Henry analysis as "flawed." Majority at 146. Further the majority seeks to draw a distinction between RCW 8.24.010 and RCW 90.03.040 by asserting condemnation under the former requires a showing of necessity to the use and enjoyment of the condemnor's landlocked property while condemnation under the latter is permitted if the water is being put to beneficial use. Majority at 147.
However it is incorrect to distinguish these statutes based on whether the property is landlocked. As previously noted, Henry did not find the landlocked nature of the property to be determinative. Rather the real issue presented by RCW 8.24.010 is whether the dominant estate would be rendered useless absent a condemnation. It makes no sense, and conflicts with case law, to apply RCW 8.24.010 only in cases where the property is landlocked.
Washington precedent defeats the argument RCW 90.03.040 automatically entitles access to a water right so long as the water is being beneficially used.
preclude the trial court, in the condemnation action, from determining which of the parties was making a better use of the available water.
Mack, 56 Wn.2d at 587 (citations omitted). Thus, RCW 90.03.040 does not automatically guarantee an individual the right to condemn private property in order to utilize a state-permitted water right. To the contrary, this determination is left to the judgment of the trial court. Id. at 588.
Lyseng's water rights arguments overlook the differences between a determination of easement and a determination of a claim for water rights. The former, as applied to this case, concerns a well, pipes, pumping apparatus and access thereto. The latter concerns the water that flows within the well and pipes. The two subjects are physically distinct. The two subjects are also legally distinct. An easement is a privilege to use the land of another. It is a private legal interest in another's property. Water rights claims are limited to a determination by the Department of Ecology as to whether a water use permit should be granted and to whom. Water rights claims do not and cannot involve property interest questions, as the Department of Ecology has no authority to adjudicate private rights in land.
The Legislatures could grant the authority to the Department of Ecology to resolve the issues of accessing the water right through someone's property. But the Legislatures have not spoken on that issue. A[s] it remains, the Department of Ecology cannot give away a neighboring property so that a water right may be utilized. Until the Legislatures speak to that issue this Court is left with having to deal with the application of RCW [8.24.010] to determine if access of the water is necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of the claimant's property.
Supp'l Br. of Resp'ts at 12.
Consequently the Hallauers' argument that they are, by virtue of having been issued a water permit by the Department, entitled to condemn a portion of the Del Rosarios's property must fail. The Department has authority to adjudicate water rights but not private property disputes. Crescent Harbor, 51 Wn. App. at 340. See also Mack, 56 Wn.2d at 587.
The majority asserts its ruling does not permit the Department to adjudicate private land disputes, majority at 144, but then concludes the issuance of a permit by the Department necessitates a taking of the Del Rosarios's land.
If obtaining a water permit from the Department under RCW 90.03.290 is the only condition an individual must satisfy before he takes the property of another pursuant to RCW 90.03.040, I must conclude, protests of the majority notwithstanding, the Department is either adjudicating private rights in land or at least making a water right adjudication a fait accompli to establish a private right in land. Under the majority's opinion the property rights of all other parties automatically become subservient to the holder of a water permit issued by the Department of Ecology. This I cannot accept.
permitted water right does not grant them an automatic right of condemnation. Because the Hallauers failed to demonstrate the water sought to be transported was necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of their land, this court should affirm the decisions of the trial court and the Court of Appeals, deny condemnation, and grant the Del Rosarios reasonable attorney fees pursuant to RCW 8.24.030. See Sorenson v. Czinger, 70 Wn. App. 270, 279, 852 P.2d 1124 (1993).
ALEXANDER, C.J., concurs with SANDERS, J.

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