Opinion ID: 2461173
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Heading: Nevada's embrace of public trust doctrine principles

Text: Although Nevada has never expressly adopted the public trust doctrine, our caselaw has adhered to several principles relevant to the existence of the public trust doctrine in this state. The following three cases illustrate that, while the doctrine was not formally adopted, this state has previously embraced the tenets on which it is based.
The first case in which we recognized concepts foundational to the public trust doctrine is a 1970 case, State Engineer v. Cowles Bros., Inc., 86 Nev. 872, 478 P.2d 159 (1970). Cowles involved an application with the State Engineer by the owner of lands adjoining the dry bed of Winnemucca Lake ... to drill a well on property located in the dry Winnemucca Lake bed. Id. at 873, 478 P.2d at 160. In determining whether the State Engineer could permissibly grant such an application, we noted that the state owns the waters and the beds beneath them, based on their navigable status at the time of statehood, providing that [w]hen a territory is endowed with statehood one of the many items its sovereignty includes is the grant from the federal government of all navigable bodies of water within the particular territory, whether they be rivers, lakes or streams. If the body of water is classified as non-navigable at the time of the creation of the state, the underlying land remains the property of the United States, but if it is navigable under the definition hereinafter stated, the water and the bed beneath it becomes the property of the state. Id. at 874, 478 P.2d at 160. Thus, Cowles set the foundation on which future cases involving public trust doctrine principles rest, by recognizing that navigable waterways are owned by the state.
We furthered the application of public trust doctrine principles with respect to state-owned navigable waterways two years later in State v. Bunkowski, 88 Nev. 623, 503 P.2d 1231 (1972). In Bunkowski, we reiterated `[i]t is settled law in this country' that, by virtue of a state's admission into the United States, `lands underlying navigable waters within [the] State belong to the State in its sovereign capacity.' Id. at 627, 503 P.2d at 1233 (quoting United States v. Holt Bank, 270 U.S. 49, 54, 46 S.Ct. 197, 70 L.Ed. 465 (1926)). Significantly, we then pointed out that the state holds those lands in trust for its citizens, which prevents the transfer of those lands, absent proper legislative determination: It has been held, in what appears to be a majority of cases, that the states hold title to the beds of navigable watercourses in trust for the people of their respective states. Titles to navigable water beds are normally inalienable. In Alameda Conservation Association v. City of Alameda [264 Cal.App.2d 284], 70 Cal.Rptr. 264 (Cal.App. 1968), it was held that while the state owns land under bays, such lands can be transferred by the state free of trust upon proper legislative determination, citing People v. California Fish Co. [166 Cal. 576], 138 P. 79 (Cal.1913). Id. at 634, 503 P.2d at 1237-38 (citations omitted). In so recognizing, we implicitly acknowledged the public trust doctrine, ultimately concluding that [t]he State holds the subject lands in trust for public use.  Id. at 635, 503 P.2d at 1238 (emphasis added). Although we recognized that under certain circumstances the Legislature could alienate public trust lands without breaking the public trust, we did not further elaborate on that concept, apart from indicating that the Legislature must make an express and proper determination. Id. at 634, 503 P.2d at 1237-38. The cases we referenced, however, indicate that legislative conveyances of trust lands must account for the public's interest in maintaining such waterways for their public use. See, e.g., California Fish Co., 138 P. at 88.
The most recent case dealing with issues connected to the public trust doctrine, Mineral County v. State, Department of Conservation, 117 Nev. 235, 20 P.3d 800 (2001), was an original writ proceeding concerning rights to withdraw surface or groundwater from Walker River and Walker Lake. Id. Although this court denied the petition on procedural grounds, Justice Rose issued a concurring opinion expressing his belief that this court should finally affirmatively address the existence and role of the public trust doctrine in the State of Nevada. Id. at 246, 20 P.3d at 807 (Rose, J., concurring). Citing the seminal Supreme Court case, Illinois Central, Justice Rose emphasized that the state holds all land beneath Nevada's navigable waters in trust for the benefit of the state's citizenry, as an incident of Nevada's statehood. Id. Justice Rose further asserted that the public trust doctrine in Nevada is contained in NRS 533.025, which provides that `[t]he water of all sources of water supply within the boundaries of the state whether above or beneath the surface of the ground, belongs to the public.' Id. at 247, 20 P.3d at 808. Regarding NRS 533.025, he wrote: This court has itself recognized that this public ownership of water is the most fundamental tenet of Nevada water law. Additionally, we have noted that those holding vested water rights do not own or acquire title to water, but merely enjoy a right to the beneficial use of the water. This right, however, is forever subject to the public trust, which at all times forms the outer boundaries of permissible government action with respect to public trust resources. In this manner, then, the public trust doctrine operates simultaneously with the system of prior appropriation. Id. (quoting Desert Irrigation, Ltd. v. State of Nevada, 113 Nev. 1049, 1059, 944 P.2d 835, 842 (1997), and Kootenai Environ. Alliance v. Panhandle Yacht, 105 Idaho 622, 671 P.2d 1085, 1095 (1983)). Justice Rose noted that every Nevada citizen has a vested interest in the water from Walker River and expects the state's natural resources to be preserved. Id. at 248, 20 P.3d at 808. Finally, he described this court's vital role of ensuring the continuance of this stewardship: If the current law governing the water engineer does not clearly direct the engineer to continuously consider in the course of his work the public's interest in Nevada's natural water resources, then the law is deficient. It is then appropriate, if not our constitutional duty, to expressly reaffirm the engineer's continuing responsibility as a public trustee to allocate and supervise water rights so that the appropriations do not substantially impair the public interest in the lands and waters remaining. [T]he public trust is more than an affirmation of state power to use public property for public purposes. It is an affirmation of the duty of the state to protect the people's common heritage of streams, lakes, marshlands and tidelands, surrendering that right of protection only in rare cases when the abandonment of that right is consistent with the purposes of the trust. Our dwindling natural resources deserve no less. Id. at 248-49, 20 P.3d at 808-09 (alteration in original) (quoting Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois, 146 U.S. 387, 452, 13 S.Ct. 110, 36 L.Ed. 1018 (1892), and Nat. Audubon Soc. v. Super. Ct. of Alpine Cty., 33 Cal.3d 419, 189 Cal.Rptr. 346, 658 P.2d 709, 724 (1983)). [1]