City Of San Diego v. California Water & Telephone Co.

162 P.2d 684, 71 Cal. App. 2d 261, 1945 Cal. App. LEXIS 885
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 23, 1945
DocketCiv. No. 3371
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 162 P.2d 684 (City Of San Diego v. California Water & Telephone Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City Of San Diego v. California Water & Telephone Co., 162 P.2d 684, 71 Cal. App. 2d 261, 1945 Cal. App. LEXIS 885 (Cal. Ct. App. 1945).

Opinion

BARNARD, P. J.

The plaintiff has appealed from a judgment dismissing the action following the sustaining of a demurrer to its complaint, and its refusal to amend.

The action, filed on November 19, 1943, was one in equity for the purpose of setting aside and vacating, on the ground of extrinsic fraud, a judgment rendered on December 1, 1942, in the case of Marvin L. Allen, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Californita Water & Telephone Company, a Corporation, et al., Defendants. An appeal in that case is now pending in the Supreme Court, a hearing having been granted after a decision in this court. (68 A.C.A. 775 [157 P.2d 663].) That case will be referred to as the Allen case.

So far as material here, the allegations of the complaint in this action may be briefly summarized. It is alleged that the tributary sources of the Tia Juana River rise in the eastern part of San Diego County in this state and in the Republic of Mexico; that the branches which rise in the United States converge into Pine Creek and Cottonwood River; that these two streams converge and under the names ‘ ‘ Cottonwood” and “Tia Juana River” flow across the international boundary line at a point known as the “Marrón Dam Site,” located about twenty-four miles from the Pacific Ocean, and thereafter merge with the branches arising in Mexico; that the main stream of the Tia Juana River then flows westerly through Mexico to a point on the boundary line about six miles eastward from the Pacific Ocean, where it crosses from Mexico into the United States; that it then flows westerly through territory of the United States for about six miles and empties into the Pacific Ocean; and that for these six miles the valley of this river, which is referred to as the Tia Juana River Basin, has a considerable underground flow of water and constitutes a reservoir for large quantities of underground water. For convenience, this six miles of river valley will be referred to as the “basin.”

It is alleged that since 1912 the city has owned and operated a water system for the benefit of its inhabitants; that among the properties thus owned are Moreno Dam and Reservoir on Pine Creek and Barrett Dam and Reservoir on Cottonwood River in San Diego County, and the Marrón [263]*263Dam Site, with the right to construct a dam on that site and to develop and impound waters there; also the right to construct other dams on Cottonwood River and Pine Creek for the purpose of developing and impounding waters, which said rights were secured from the owners of lands riparian to the Tia Juana River and located in the basin we have described; that all of the owners of the lands in said basin have heretofore released and waived their riparian rights in favor of the right of the city to construct dams at Marrón Dam Site and on the Cottonwood River and Pine Creek, and to develop and impound waters thereby; and that since 1912 the city has been diligently engaged in carrying out a plan for the full development of the Cottonwood River and Pine Creek at and above Marrón Dam Site, including activities through the State Department whereby the city has sought to obtain the right to construct a dam at the Marrón Dam Site, partly within the United States and partly within Mexico.

It is then alleged that in 1936 the defendants other than the California Water & Telephone Company, which will be hereafter referred to as the water company, commenced the Allen case alleging that the water company was trespassing upon their rights as riparian landowners in the basin and asking that the water company be enjoined from pumping and diverting water from that basin; that on August 17, 1936, the water company filed an answer and on September 25, 1936, filed a cross-complaint naming the city as a cross-defendant; that the cross-complaint alleged the water company’s right to divert water from the river and its tribuaries, including this basin, and asked that the city be required to set up any rights it had which were adverse to or superior to the water company’s rights; that the city filed an answer alleging that its only interest in the waters of the Tia Juana River and its tributaries was as a riparian owner of 105 acres of land located in the basin; that the water company’s answer and cross-complaint both alleged that the plaintiffs and the city of San Diego had released and waived their riparian rights as owners of land in the basin; and that on December 4, 1940, the city filed an amended answer to the water company’s cross-complaint denying, among other things, that the city had released any of its riparian rights affecting its 105 acres of land in this basin, but that the city failed to plead to the allegation that the plaintiffs in the Allen ease had released and waived their riparian rights in [264]*264connection with this basin, and failed to allege that the city was then the owner of all such released and waived rights.

It is then alleged that from 1936 to July 28, 1941, one Dayton L. Ault was the plaintiff’s city attorney; that since October 1, 1939, Phil D. Swing has been employed by the city as a special water attorney for the purpose of aiding and assisting the city attorney in all matters involving litigation over the city’s water rights; that during all the year 1939 and thereafter Mr. Ault was suffering from an incurable disease which incapacitated him from properly performing his duties and compelled him to rely on other attorneys employed by the city, including Mr. Swing; that Ault consulted with and relied upon Swing with reference to the defense to be interposed in the Allen case; that Swing advised Ault that the city’s only interest in that litigation was by virtue of its ownership of 105 acres of land in the Tia Juana River Basin, that the city’s interest was the same as that of other landowners in that basin, that it was not necessary in order to protect the city’s rights to have a special water attorney in attendance at the trial of the action, that he, Swing, would as attorney for certain of the plaintiffs in that action be protecting not only the rights of the plaintiffs but also the rights of the city, and that it was to the interest of the city to have the water company enjoined from diverting water from the Tia Juana River and its watershed; that during the trial of the Allen case Ault consulted with Swing and depended upon his advice; that Swing had personal knowledge of the water rights and properties of the city and its efforts to secure the right to build the Marrón Dam; and that Swing knew that included in the city’s water rights were the riparian releases waived and conveyed by the landowners in the basin in favor of the city.

It is then alleged, on information and belief, that Swing failed to advise Mr. Ault of the city’s water rights and these riparian releases and of its efforts to obtain the right to construct the Marrón Dam; that he failed to advise Ault or any of his deputies or any other city officer that these rights were affected in the Allen action and should have been pleaded therein in answer to the cross-complaint of the water company; and that neither Ault nor any of his deputies nor any other city officer had any reason to know of the issues involved in the Allen case, nor that said action involved the city’s rights on the upper waters of the Cottonwood River and Pine Creek.

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Bluebook (online)
162 P.2d 684, 71 Cal. App. 2d 261, 1945 Cal. App. LEXIS 885, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-san-diego-v-california-water-telephone-co-calctapp-1945.