Opinion ID: 880166
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Analysis of the District Court

Text: The district court stated that the clear and convincing evidence standard applied to a finding of injury “based on the way in which the right is structured and in giving proper legal effect to the decree . . . .” Such a standard, according to the district court, gives the “proper presumptive weight to a decree.” In assigning an evidentiary standard, the district court focused on the presumptions and burdens of proof found in the CM Rules and applicable case law. The reasoning behind the district court’s decision can be summed up in the following excerpt: The application of the clear and convincing standard of proof only makes sense from a common sense perspective. If the Director determines that a senior can satisfy the decreed purpose of use on less than the decreed quantity reflected, 23 he needs to be certain to a standard of clear and convincing evidence. In making a determination of whether or not to regulate juniors, the Director is required to evaluate whether the quantity available meets or exceeds the quantity the senior can put to beneficial use. If the Director regulates juniors to satisfy the senior’s decreed quantity there is no risk of injury to the senior. However, if the Director regulates juniors to satisfy a quantity less than decreed, there is risk to the senior that the Director’s determination is incorrect. There is no remedy for the senior if the Director’s determination turns out to be in error and the senior comes up short of water during the irrigation season. Any burden of this uncertainty should be borne by the junior . . . . [I]f the Director’s determination is only based on a finding ‘more probable than not.’ The senior’s right is put at risk and the junior is essentially accorded the benefit of uncertainty. The requisite high standard accords appropriate presumptive weight to the decree. The district court also noted several opinions from this Court that use the clear and convincing standard in connection with water rights. Forfeiture or abandonment of a water right must be established by clear and convincing evidence. See Crow v. Carlson, 107 Idaho 461, 467, 690 P.2d 916, 922 (1984). That same standard is used when establishing prescriptive title to the water right of another. See Gilbert, 97 Idaho at 739, 552 P.2d at 1224. Significantly, these cases deal with the actual modification of a water right. In its decision, the district court held that the futile delivery call defense was similar and “requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence that diversions by a junior appropriator will not injure the rights of a senior appropriator.” Additionally, the district court held that a “determination that a portion of a decreed water right is being wasted (or is not being put to beneficial use) is a diminishment of a property right. The decreed quantity is reduced by the amount determined not being put to beneficial use.”