Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/286/494/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 02:32:10+00:00

Document:
1. The decree in the earlier suit between Wyoming and Colorado, 259 U. S. 259 U.S. 419, 259 U. S. 496; 260 U. S. 260 U.S. 1, defined and limited the quantity of water which Colorado and her appropriators may divert from the Laramie River and its tributaries and thus withhold from Wyoming and her appropriators. Pp. 286 U. S. 506-508.
2. In a suit between two states to determine the relative rights of each and of their respective citizens to divert water from an interstate stream, private appropriators are represented by their respective states, and need not be made parties to be bound by the decree. Pp. 286 U. S. 506-509.
3. The bill in the present case shows that the diversions in Colorado complained of as violating the former decree are not merely the acts of private corporations and individuals not parties to this suit, but that they are acts done by or under the authority of Colorado, and it shows with sufficient certainty to require answer that the decree has been violated by diversions in Colorado to the damage of Wyoming and her water users. Pp. 286 U. S. 509-510.
Motion to dismiss bill overruled.
On motion to dismiss an original suit brought for the purpose of enforcing a decree in an earlier suit between the two states.
This is a suit brought by the State of Wyoming against the State of Colorado to enforce a decree of this Court ( 259 U. S. 259 U.S. 419, 259 U. S. 496; 260 U. S. 260 U.S. 1) rendered in an earlier suit between the same states respecting their relative rights to divert and use for irrigation the waters of the Laramie River, a stream rising in Colorado and flowing northward into Wyoming.
In the present bill, shortly described, Wyoming alleges that Colorado is departing from that decree by permitting the diversion and use within her territory of waters of the Laramie in quantities largely in excess of those accorded to her by the decree; that these excessive diversions are preventing Wyoming from receiving and using the amount of water which the decree accorded to her; that Colorado, unless restrained by this Court, will continue to permit such excessive diversions, and thereby will largely or entirely deprive Wyoming of the use of the water accorded to her in the decree; that the measuring devices installed by Colorado to measure the waters diverted within her territory do not accurately show the full quantities so diverted, and that Colorado refuses, although duly requested, to permit Wyoming to install other suitable devices or participate in the measurements.
4. 15,500 acre-feet of water per annum by reason of the Laramie-Poudre Tunnel appropriation, making an aggregate of 37,750 acre-feet per annum, apart from the Wilson Supply Ditch appropriation, and by according to Wyoming 272,500 acre-feet of water per annum by reason of appropriations in that state.
The relief sought is the protection and quieting of Wyoming's rights under the decree; provision for accurately and effectively measuring and recording the quantities of water diverted in Colorado; an injunction restraining Colorado from continuing or making any diversion in excess of the quantities of water accorded to her by the decree, in the event the injunction in that decree is held to relate only to diversion by reason of the Laramie-Poudre Tunnel appropriation, and such other and full relief as may be just and equitable.
within that state -- all of which, it is insisted in the motion, is refuted by the record, opinion, and decree in the prior suit; (2) that the bill shows that the acts complained of are not acts done by Colorado, or under her authority, but acts done by private corporations and individuals not parties to the present suit and with respect to which no relief can be had against Colorado; and( 3) that, in any event, the bill fails to show with certainty any violation of the decree or any damage to Wyoming or her water users.
"The principal purpose of the motion to dismiss is to join issue with the contention of the complainant that the whole matter has already been adjudicated by the former decree. The problem so presented is a law question, and it is apprehended that this should be determined in limine."
Evidently, therefore, the construction of the decree in the earlier suit is the chief matter in dispute.
said Laramie River or its tributaries had been made by the State of Colorado or its citizens, or within the said State of Colorado, prior to the appropriations of said waters by your orator and its citizens as herein set forth;"
that, prior to the commencement of the Laramie-Poudre Tunnel project in Colorado, Wyoming and her citizens had appropriated all of the available waters of the Laramie and its tributaries for the actual irrigation of lands in Wyoming, aggregating hundreds of thousands of acres and supporting thousands of people; that, without the use of the waters so appropriated, these lands would be, to a large extent, valueless, and incapable of supporting any considerable population, and that the consummation of the proposed Laramie-Poudre Tunnel diversion would deprive Wyoming and her citizens of a very large amount of water to the use of which they were rightly entitled in virtue of their appropriations, and would take from many of their lands much of their value.
"other appropriations of said waters of said Laramie River and its tributaries had been made by the State of Colorado and its citizens within the State of Colorado prior to the appropriations of said waters by complainant and its citizens;"
"by the system sought to be enjoined herein, and all other available means, no more than 90,000 acre-feet annually can be diverted from said stream and its tributaries for use upon lands lying within the State of Colorado;"
and denied that the consummation of the threatened diversion would work any injury to Wyoming or her citizens or the lands in that state.
Thus, the pleadings directly put in issue the priority and measure of the appropriations in each state as against those in the other state, and also the extent of the available supply of water whereon all of the appropriations depended.
4,250 acre-feet per annum as the measure of the meadowland appropriations, 18,000 acre-feet per annum as the measure of the Skyline Ditch appropriation, and 2,000 acre-feet per annum as the measure of the Wilson Supply Ditch appropriation. Some of her witnesses gave different measures. All who spoke of the Wilson Supply Ditch agreed that it was used to divert water from the headwaters of Deadman Creek, a Colorado tributary of the Laramie, into Sand Creek, from which that water, or its equivalent, was rediverted at a lower point, along with other water from Sand Creek, through the Divide Ditch and ultimately carried into the Cache la Poudre Valley. Colorado's evidence indicated that the meadowland, Skyline, and Wilson Supply appropriations were earlier than the Laramie-Poudre Tunnel appropriation and many of the Wyoming appropriations, and Wyoming recognized this difference in the dates of appropriation, although raising some question as to the quantity of water in the earlier appropriations so recognized.
In their briefs in that suit, counsel for Colorado, while urging that the doctrine of appropriation was not applicable to a controversy between the two states, but only to controversies between private appropriators within the same state, recognized that the court might hold otherwise, and, on that basis, they presented what they termed "a complete review of the evidence showing the respective priorities of diversion from the Laramie River in Colorado and Wyoming." In that review, they listed the aforementioned meadowland, Skyline, Wilson Supply, and Sand Creek appropriations and the proposed Laramie-Poudre Tunnel appropriation, as constituting the "diversions and use by Colorado and her citizens," and urged that Colorado be recognized as entitled to all of them under the rule of priority, if that rule was given effect.
With the issues, evidence, and propositions of law here outlined submitted to it, the court proceeded to a decision.
"The lands in both states are naturally arid, and the need for irrigation is the same in one as in the other. The lands were settled under the same public land laws, and their settlement was induced largely by the prevailing right to divert and use water for irrigation, without which the lands were of little value. Many of the lands were acquired under the Desert Land Act, which made reclamation by irrigation a condition to the acquisition. . . ."
"In neither state was the right to appropriate water from this interstate stream denied. On the contrary, it was permitted and recognized in both. The rule was the same on both sides of the line. Some of the appropriations were made as much as 50 years ago, and many as much as 25. In the circumstances we have stated, why should not appropriations from this stream be respected, as between the two states, according to their several priorities, as would done if the stream lay wholly within either state? By what principle of right of equity may either state proceed in disregard of prior appropriations in the other?"
"Colorado answers that this is not a suit between private appropriators. This is true, but it does not follow that their situation and what has been accomplished by them for their respective states can be ignored. As respects Wyoming, the welfare, prosperity, and happiness of the people of the larger part of the Laramie Valley, as also a large portion of the taxable resources of two counties, are dependent on the appropriations in that state.
Thus, the interests of the state are indissolubly linked with the rights of the appropriators. To the extent of the appropriation and use of the water in Colorado, a like situation exists there."
"We conclude that Colorado's objections to the doctrine of appropriation as a basis of decision are not well taken, and that it furnishes the only basis which is consonant with the principles of right and equity applicable to such a controversy as this is. The cardinal rule of the doctrine is that priority of appropriation gives superiority of right. Each of these states applies and enforces this rule in her own territory, and it is the one to which intending appropriators naturally would turn for guidance. The principle on which it proceeds is not less applicable to interstate streams and controversies than to others. [Footnote 1] Both states pronounce the rule just and reasonable as applied to the natural conditions in that region, and to prevent any departure from it the people of both incorporated it into their Constitutions. It originated in the customs and usages of the people before either state came into existence, and the courts of both hold that their constitutional provisions are to be taken as recognizing the prior usage, rather than as creating a new rule. These considerations persuade us that its application to such a controversy as is here presented cannot be other than eminently just and equitable to all concerned."
Respecting the available supply of water, the court found from the evidence that Sand Creek is nominally, but not actually, a tributary of the Laramie, and therefore not to be considered; that, at Woods, a gauging station near the Colorado-Wyoming state line, the natural flow of the Laramie after the "recognized Colorado appropriations"
"The available supply -- the 288,000 acre-feet -- is not sufficient to satisfy the Wyoming appropriations dependent thereon and also the proposed Colorado appropriation, [Footnote 2] so it becomes necessary to consider their relative priorities."
"There are some existing Colorado appropriations having priorities entitling them to precedence over many of the Wyoming appropriations. These recognized Colorado appropriations are [Footnote 3] 18,000 acre-feet for what is known as the Skyline Ditch and 4,250 acre-feet for the irrigation of that number of acres of native hay meadows in the Laramie valley in Colorado, the 4,250 acre-feet being what Colorado's chief witness testifies is reasonably required for the purpose, although a larger amount is claimed in the state's answer. These recognized Colorado appropriations, aggregating 22,250 acre-feet, are not to be deducted from the 288,000 acre-feet; that being the available supply after they are satisfied. Nor is Colorado's appropriation from Sand Creek to be deducted; that Creek, as we have shown, not being a tributary of the Laramie."
"As the available supply is 288,000 acre-feet, and the amount covered by senior appropriations in Wyoming is 272,500 acre-feet, there remain 15,500 acre-feet which are subject to this junior appropriation in Colorado."
"A decree will accordingly be entered enjoining the defendants from diverting or taking more than 15,500 acre-feet per year from the Laramie River by means of or through the so-called Laramie-Poudre project."
"It is considered, ordered, and decreed that the defendants, their officers, agents, and servants be, and they are hereby, severally enjoined from diverting or taking from the Laramie River and its tributaries in the State of Colorado more than fifteen thousand five hundred (15,500) acre-feet of water per annum in virtue of or through what is designated in the pleadings and evidence as the Laramie-Poudre Tunnel appropriation in that state,"
evidence as the Skyline Ditch appropriation in that state; nor prejudice the right of that state, or of anyone recognized by her as duly entitled thereto, to continue to exercise the right now existing and hereby recognized to divert and take from such stream and its tributaries in that state four thousand two hundred and fifty (4,250) acre-feet of water per annum in virtue of and through the meadowland appropriations in that state which are named in the pleadings and evidence, nor prejudice or affect the right of the State of Colorado or the State of Wyoming, or of anyone recognized by either state as duly entitled thereto, to continue to exercise the right to divert and use water from Sand Creek, sometimes spoken of as a tributary of the Laramie River, in virtue of any existing and lawful appropriation of the waters of such creek."
Colorado and her codefendants presented a petition for rehearing on stated grounds, one of which was that the Wilson Supply Ditch appropriation was inadvertently omitted, in both opinion and decree, from the recognized early Colorado appropriations. As the omission was in fact inadvertent, the decree was then so modified as to include that appropriation among the others which Colorado was recognized as having a right to continue. 260 U. S. 260 U.S. 1. A change in the provision respecting costs also was sought in the petition, and was included in the modified decree. In other respects, the original decree was adhered to, and a rehearing denied. In that petition, Colorado and her codefendants construed the decree as allotting the available supply between the two states according to priority in appropriation, and limiting Colorado's allotment "to 37,750 acre-feet annually -- Skyline 18,000, plus Colorado meadows 4,250, plus Laramie-Poudre 15,500."
relative rights of the two states, including their respective citizens, to divert and use the waters of the Laramie and its tributaries. These rights were put in issue by the pleadings, displayed in the evidence, and considered and resolved in the opinion. Not only so, but the question of priority in time and right as between the appropriations in Colorado and those in Wyoming was directly presented by the pleadings and evidence, and distinctly dealt with and resolved in the opinion.
And, as further appears from the opinion, the court made specific findings showing the amount of water in the available supply, its insufficiency to satisfy all asserted appropriations, the date when the proposed tunnel appropriation in Colorado was initiated, the names and amounts of the appropriations in Colorado which were senior to that appropriation, the amount of water included in the Wyoming appropriations which were senior to it, and the amount which would remain in the supply and be subject to that appropriation after deducting what was required to satisfy the senior appropriations in both states.
in the supply after deducting the quantities included in the senior appropriations in both states; (2) recognizes and protects the Skyline appropriation of 18,000 acre-feet, it being a senior Colorado appropriation; (3) similarly sustains the meadowland appropriations of 4,250 acre-feet, they being senior Colorado appropriations; (4) recognizes and protects the small Wilson Supply Ditch appropriation made prior to 1902, it being a senior Colorado appropriation inadvertently omitted from the list in the opinion but given its proper place by a modification of the original decree, and (5) saves from prejudice all appropriations of the waters of Sand Creek, found not to be a tributary of the Laramie.
The decree enjoins any diversion through the tunnel appropriation in excess of the 15,500 acre-feet accorded to it -- and this doubtless for the reason that there had been a declared and real purpose to divert from 56,000 to 71,000 acre-feet under that appropriation. No showing appears to have been made indicative of any occasion at that time for a broader injunction. Of course, in the absence of such a showing, a broader injunction was not justified. Certainly the limited injunction which was granted does not warrant any inference that it marks the limits of what was intended to be decided. Such an inference would be inconsistent with other parts of the decree, and with the opinion and the findings therein.
Construing the decree in the light of the record and opinion, to which counsel for both states appeal, we think it was intended to and does define and limit the quantity of water which Colorado and her appropriators may divert from the interstate stream and its tributaries, and thus withhold from Wyoming and her appropriators.
specified in the decree, and that Colorado has permitted other diversions from the Laramie and its tributaries in violation of the decree through the Bob Creek and other designated Ditches, none of which was recognized or named in the findings or decree.
The contention that the bill fails to show with certainty any violation of the decree, or any damage to Wyoming or her water users, is largely refuted by the allegations just noticed, and is further refuted by an allegation that, annually since the entry of the decree, the amount of water in the Laramie available to Wyoming for its water users has been less than the 272,500 acre-feet specified in the court's findings, and this shortage has been caused by the excessive and otherwise unlawful diversions before described. It is true that some of the allegations purporting to state violations of the decree are uncertain and indefinite, but there are many which are not subject to this criticism, and plainly there is enough in the bill to require that the defendant be called upon to answer it.
Followed and applied in Weiland v. Pioneer Irrigation Co., 259 U. S. 498, 259 U. S. 502.
The reference is to the threatened Laramie-Poudre Tunnel diversion.
The Wilson Supply Ditch appropriation should have been included here among the recognized Colorado appropriations, and was included among them in a modified decree, as will appear later on.
Southern Pacific R. Co. v. United States, 168 U. S. 1, 168 U. S. 48; Southern Pacific R. Co. v. United States, 183 U. S. 519, 183 U. S. 532.
Missouri v. Illinois, 180 U. S. 208, 180 U. S. 241; Kansas v. Colorado, 185 U. S. 125, 185 U. S. 142; 206 U. S. 206 U.S. 46, 206 U. S. 49; Georgia v. Tennessee Copper Co., 206 U. S. 230, 206 U. S. 237; Hudson County Water Co. v. McCarter, 209 U. S. 349, 209 U. S. 355; Pennsylvania v. West Virginia, 262 U. S. 553, 262 U. S. 591, 262 U. S. 595; North Dakota v. Minnesota, 263 U. S. 365, 263 U. S. 373; Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 12 Pet. 657, 37 U. S. 748; Florida v. Georgia, 17 How. 478, 58 U. S. 494, 510, 58 U. S. 522.

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