Opinion ID: 1405352
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Abandonment and relinquishment

Text: In ruling on R.D. Merrill's motion for partial summary judgment, the Board also reasoned that plaintiffs had the burden of establishing abandonment or statutory relinquishment and had failed to present evidence supporting their claim that the water rights had not been used. This ruling was erroneous because the issue of nonuse was not raised in R.D. Merrill's partial summary judgment motion and therefore the Board erred in deciding the issues of abandonment and statutory relinquishment on summary judgment. R.D. Merrill's motion for partial summary judgment noted plaintiffs' assertion that water rights approved for changes had been abandoned or relinquished by Merrill. R. D. Merrill's Mot. for Partial Summ. J., at 12 (Jan. 3, 1995). (However, plaintiffs did not move for summary judgment on this issue.) R.D. Merrill's motion then states: In fact, as to any periods of non-use after 1967, these rights have neither been abandoned nor relinquished by Merrill. Id. (emphasis added). The motion then sought summary judgment on the basis of the two exceptions to relinquishment claimed by R.D. Merrill. Id. at 13-15. Thus, defendant's motion maintained that regardless of whether there was any nonuse, the two exceptions applied and excused any nonuse. The motion did not discuss whether nonuse occurred, and did not raise nonuse as an issue. [10] Even if the issue of nonuse had been raised in R.D. Merrill's reply brief, the issue would still not be a proper basis for summary judgment. First, allowing the moving party to raise new issues in rebuttal materials generally gives the moving party no opportunity to respond. White v. Kent Med. Ctr., Inc., 61 Wash.App. 163, 168, 810 P.2d 4 (1991). Second, nothing in CR 56(c) allows the raising of additional issues other than in the motion and memorandum in support of the motion. Id. In any event, it is difficult to agree that R.D. Merrill attempted to raise the issue of nonuse in its reply memorandum. The reply brief stated that R.D. Merrill moved for partial summary judgment as to Issue No. 3 [regarding plaintiffs' claims of abandonment and relinquishment] ... requesting a determination by this Board that any periods of non-use after 1967 could not constitute relinquishment or abandonment of the water rights at issue.... Merrill's Reply Mem. in Supp. of Summ. J., at 4 (Jan. 23, 1995) (emphasis added). The reply memorandum then argued (1) that plaintiffs bore the burden of proof on the issues of abandonment and relinquishment and that in response to defendant's partial summary judgment motion plaintiffs had failed to put forward sufficient evidence of nonuse; and (2) that plaintiffs had failed to sufficiently controvert evidence which defendant presented in favor of application of the two exceptions to relinquishment which it claimed. Id. at 5-7. Therefore, even if an issue on which summary judgment is sought could be raised in a reply memorandum, R.D. Merrill did not raise the issue of nonuse. Rather, R.D. Merrill tied its discussion of plaintiffs' failure to provide sufficient evidence on nonuse directly to the issues it raised in the partial summary judgment motion, and said that plaintiffs' response was inadequate to overcome the motion. R.D. Merrill was not purporting to raise in the reply memorandum a new issue on which summary judgment should be granted, but instead referred to the grounds for summary judgment raised in the motion itself. The fact that plaintiffs bear the burden of proof on the issues of abandonment and statutory relinquishment does not make any difference here. First, since the issue of nonuse was not raised in the summary judgment motion, plaintiffs had no reason at all to provide evidence of nonuse in response. Second, as explained above, on the issues which R.D. Merrill actually raised in its partial summary judgment motion, applicability of the two claimed exceptions to relinquishment, R.D. Merrill bore the burden of proof. Finally, R.D. Merrill argues that if error occurred when the Board considered the issue of nonuse, the error was harmless. We disagree. Initially, we have serious doubts that a harmless error analysis should apply here at all. It is unfair to grant the extraordinary relief of summary judgment without allowing the nonmoving party the benefit of a clear opportunity to know on what grounds summary judgment is sought. In addition, plaintiffs submitted materials to the Board following R.D. Merrill's reply and again upon their own motion for reconsideration of the Board's second partial summary judgment ruling which raise material issues of fact as to nonuse. (The Board denied that motion for reconsideration.) The Board erred in granting summary judgment on the issues of abandonment and relinquishment. We reverse the Board's partial summary judgment rulings on the issues of abandonment and statutory relinquishment, including applicability of the exceptions to statutory relinquishment, and remand for further proceedings. The abandonment and relinquishment issues are relevant to the change sought in the Willis irrigation right (not to be confused with the Wilson irrigation right).