Dalles Irrigation District v. United States

71 Fed. Cl. 344, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 160, 2006 WL 1681393
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 19, 2006
DocketNo. 05-1042C
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 71 Fed. Cl. 344 (Dalles Irrigation District v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dalles Irrigation District v. United States, 71 Fed. Cl. 344, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 160, 2006 WL 1681393 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LETTOW, Judge.

This breach of contract case was transferred to this court from the District Court for the District of Oregon (“district court”). It stems from a contract entered by The Dalles Irrigation District (“The Dalles” or “district”) with the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (“Bureau”) for the provision of hydroelectric power to The Dalles, to be used by the district for irrigation pumping. The Dalles is an organized irrigation district along the Columbia River in Oregon. The energy was to be produced by The Dalles Dam power plant. The Dalles claims that since 1998 the government has overcharged the district for energy by $400,000 in contravention of the terms of the contract. Compl. at 3. The Dalles also seeks declaratory relief from the court that the district should only be charged for those costs specified in the contract. Id. at 3-4.

The government has filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, contending that the six-year statute of limitations, 28 U.S.C. § 2501, bars relief. The government argues that the underlying formula the Bureau uses to assess annual charges against The Dalles was established in 1990 and that the adoption of the formula constitutes the basis for The Dalles’ claim. Because The Dalles filed its complaint in the district court in 2004, fourteen years after 1990, the government avers that The Dalles’ claim is untimely.

A hearing on the pending motion was held on May 9, 2006. For the reasons stated below, the government’s motion is denied.

BACKGROUND1

The Reclamation Act of 1902, Pub.L. No. 57-161, 32 Stat. 388, “authoriz[ed the] construction of dams for irrigation and land settlement” throughout the western half of the United States. Plaintiffs Response to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Appendix (“PL’s App.”) at 4 (Federal Columbia River Power System brochure (Aug.2003)); see Orff v. United States, 545 U.S. 596, -, 125 S.Ct. 2606, 2608, 162 L.Ed.2d 544 (2005) (citing California v. United States, 438 U.S. 645, 650, 98 S.Ct. 2985, 57 L.Ed.2d 1018 (1978)) (stating that the “Reclamation Act of 1902 set in motion a massive program to provide federal financing, construction, and operation of water storage and distribution projects to reclaim arid lands in many Western States.”).

Over the next century, 31 federally-owned multipurpose dams were constructed on the Columbia River and its tributaries, forming the Federal Columbia River Power System (“Columbia River System”). Pl.’s App. at 4.2 In 1960, the government “authorize^] the Secretary of the Interior (‘Secretary’) to eon-[346]*346struct, operate, and maintain the western division of The Dalles Federal reclamation project,” which would include pumping plants and a distribution system, for the “purpose of furnishing water for the irrigation of approximately [500,500] acres of arid land in Wasco County, Oregon.” Act of Sept. 13, 1960, Pub.L. No. 86-745, 74 Stat. 82 (1960). The statute specifically provided that

[p]ower and energy required for irrigation pumping for the western division of The Dalles Federal reclamation project shall be made available by the Secretary from The Dalles Dam powerplant ... at rates not to exceed the costs of such power and energy from The Dalles Dam taking into account all costs of the dam, reservoir, and power-plant which are determined by the Secretary under the provisions of the Federal reclamation laws to be properly allocable to such irrigation pumping power and energy.

Id. § 2(c), 74 Stat. at 82.

Thereafter, on October 19, 1961, The Dalles Irrigation District entered into Contract No. 14-06-100-2276 with the Bureau. Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Appendix (“Def.’s App.”) at 5-40 (Contract (Oct. 19, 1961)).3 The contract, styled “Repayment Contract Between the United States of America and The Dalles Irrigation District,” remains in effect as of the date of this decision. It has a perpetual term and can only be terminated “by mutual agreement of the parties.” Id. at 7 (Contract § 7). Under the contract, the United States constructed a pumping plant to divert water from the Columbia River, “[a] closed pipe distribution and lateral system to provide irrigation water delivery,” and “[e]lectrieal facilities to ... transmit pumping power from” The Dalles Dam. Id. (Contract § 8(a)). The district, in turn, became obligated to pay for a fixed-portion of the construction costs in fifty annual installments. Id. at 9 (Contract § 9).

A “development period,” lasting ten years, began in “the year for which water [wa] s announced as available to the District by the Secretary.” Def.’s App. at 10 (Contract § 11(a)). During that period, the district was excused from making payments on its construction-charge obligation, but did collect charges “sufficient to cover all operation and maintenance costs involved, including power charges.” Id. at 11 (Contract § 11(a)). “Beginning with the close of the development period,” the district was obligated to collect annual assessments against the lands in the district on a uniform per-aere basis, equaling “an amount necessary to cover the costs of operation and maintenance.” Id. at 15 (Contract § 13(b)).

Respecting power, the contract provides that the Bureau will make available to the district “that power and energy required for irrigation pumping during the irrigation season from The Dalles Dam powerplant and other federal powerplants connected therewith.” Def.’s App. at 16 (Contract § 14(a)). The Dalles Dam is operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the hydroelectric power that is produced by the dam’s power plant is transmitted by the Bonneville Power Administration (“BPA”) to the district. Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (“Def.’s Mot.”) at 3.4 Under Section 14(a) of the contract, the district is obligated to pay for this power and energy

at rates per kilowatt-hour sufficient to cover the costs of such power and energy from The Dalles Dam, taking into account all costs of the dam, reservoir and power-plant which are determined by the Secretary under the provisions of the Federal Reclamation Laws to be properly allocable to such irrigation pumping power and energy.

Def.’s App. at 16-17 (Contract § 14(a)). The rate was initially fixed in the contract at one mill per kilowatt-hour and was effective until such time that the Secretary determined that [347]*347a different rate be applied. Id. at 17. The contract specifies that a determination of a different rate “[ean]not be made more frequently than once in any five-year period.” Id.

During the ten-year development period, the power charge was included in the development-period charges. Def.’s App. at 17 (Contract § 14(b)). Thereafter, payment of the charges for power supply has been and is to be “made each calendar year on the basis of annual estimates by the [Bureau].” Id. The Bureau is obliged to furnish a notice of the annual estimate to the district “each year on or before February 1 of the calendar year for which it is to be applicable.” Id. The Dalles has to provide payment by April 1 of that year. Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
71 Fed. Cl. 344, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 160, 2006 WL 1681393, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dalles-irrigation-district-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.