Department of Fisheries v. Chelan County Public Utility District No. 1

588 P.2d 1146, 91 Wash. 2d 378, 1979 Wash. LEXIS 1155
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 4, 1979
Docket45460
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 588 P.2d 1146 (Department of Fisheries v. Chelan County Public Utility District No. 1) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Department of Fisheries v. Chelan County Public Utility District No. 1, 588 P.2d 1146, 91 Wash. 2d 378, 1979 Wash. LEXIS 1155 (Wash. 1979).

Opinions

Hicks, J.

Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County (PUD) petitioned for discretionary review of a decision of the Court of Appeals, Division Three, which reversed a summary judgment entered in PUD's favor in Chelan County Superior Court. Department of Fisheries v. Chelan County PUD 1, 18 Wn. App. 874, 573 P.2d 378 (1977). We granted review and we reverse the Court of Appeals.

The essence of the present controversy is who is to pay for the modification and reconstruction of fish passage facilities on two dams owned by PUD. In our view, the two statutes herein set forth in pertinent part, are controlling:

Every dam or other obstruction across or in any stream shall be provided with a durable and efficient fishway, which shall be maintained in a practical and effective condition in such place, form and capacity as the director may approve . . . and which shall be kept open, unobstructed and supplied with a sufficient quantity of water to freely admit the passage of fish through the same. . . .
If any person or government agency fails to construct and maintain such fish ladder or fishway or to remove such dam or obstruction in a manner satisfactory to the director, then within thirty days after written notice . . . the director may construct a suitable fish ladder or fish-way, or remove such dam or obstruction, and the actual [380]*380cost in case of construction of fishway thereof shall constitute a lien upon the dam and upon all the personal property of the person or government agency owning the same. [In the event of failure to make the fishway or remove the dam or obstruction within 30 days after service of notice on the owner, the dam or obstruction thereby becomes a public nuisance.]

(Italics ours.) RCW 75.20.060.

In the event any fish passage facility or fish protective device as set forth in RCW 75.20.040 and 75.20.060 which have been in existence or are existing at the time of enactment of this act, is determined by the director to be inadequate for the purposes for which it was intended!,] the director in addition to other authority granted in this chapter may in his discretion, remove, relocate, reconstruct, or modify said device, without cost for materials and labor to the owner or owners thereof: Provided, That the director may not materially modify the amount of flow of water through the facility or device. Thereafter such fish passage facility or fish protective device shall be maintained at the expense of the person or governmental agency owning said obstruction or water diversion in accordance with RCW 75.20.040 and 75.20.060.

(Some italics ours.) RCW 75.20.061.

The Court of Appeals set forth the facts of this case with some particularity in Department of Fisheries v. Chelan County PUD 1, supra. Briefly, construction of the Turn-water and Dryden Dams, which are located on the Wenatchee River, occurred early in this century. Both dams were provided with fish passage facilities considered to be adequate at the time of construction. PUD acquired ownership of the dams in approximately 1948. Parenthetically, in 1957 PUD ceased using either dam for the generation of electrical power.

In 1940, the fish passage facilities of both Tumwater and Dryden Dams were redesigned and rebuilt by the Department of Fisheries (Fisheries), using federal funds. As a result of the unanticipated success of the Grand Coulee Fish Rehabilitation Program of 1939, fish runs on the Wenatchee River increased markedly over the years.

[381]*381Recently, the director of Fisheries determined that the fish passage devices at PUD's dams were no longer efficient or adequate. On February 6, 1976, pursuant to RCW 75.20-.060, Fisheries filed a complaint against PUD for abatement of a public nuisance. Fisheries alleged that the fishguard screens at Dryden Dam and the fishways at both Dryden and Tumwater dams were inadequate and in need of modification, as required under RCW 75.20.040-.060. Fisheries requested, inter alia, a declaratory judgment that efficient fishways and adequate screens be installed at PUD's expense.

Both parties moved for summary judgment limited to the issue of responsibility for payment. The cost of modification, estimated at $500,000, was not at issue. The trial court ruled that RCW 75.20.060 was, inapplicable to the facts of the case, denied Fisheries' motion for summary judgment, and granted PUD's cross motion. The trial court further ordered, by way of declaratory judgment, that if the director of Fisheries found the existing fish passage facilities on the subject dams to be inadequate, the director's power to order reconstruction was limited to discretionary authority to upgrade such facilities at state expense under RCW 75.20.061.

The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court, agreeing with Fisheries that the director has authority under RCW 75.20.060 to require PUD to bear the reasonable expense of reconstructing fishways at each of its dams. The issue presented to this court is whether RCW 75.20.060 grants Fisheries the authority to order a dam owner to pay for modification of fish passage facilities formerly adequate but now deemed inadequate by the director of Fisheries.

PUD additionally argues that if Fisheries has the authority for which it contends under RCW 75.20.060, the agency is estopped from exercising that authority under the facts of this case. PUD also raises a number of constitutional issues on appeal, including alleged violations of due process and equal protection guaranties. Because we believe [382]*382that RCW 75.20.060 does not provide Fisheries the requisite authority to impose costs upon PUD, we need not reach the issues of estoppel or constitutionality.

The Court of Appeals not only found statutory authority for imposing costs upon the dam owner, but found the statute to be buttressed by a common-law implied obligation of dam owners, citing Holyoke Co. v. Lyman, 82 U.S. (15 Wall.) 500, 21 L. Ed. 133 (1872). See also 36A C.J.S- Fish

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Bluebook (online)
588 P.2d 1146, 91 Wash. 2d 378, 1979 Wash. LEXIS 1155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-fisheries-v-chelan-county-public-utility-district-no-1-wash-1979.