Eureka Cty. v. King, P.E. (Kobeh Valley Ranch, LLC)

• Court: Nevada Supreme Court
• Decided: December 22, 2017
• Docket: 71090
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA

EUREKA COUNTY, No. 71090 Petitioner, vs. JASON KING, P.E., NEVADA STATE FILED ENGINEER, DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES, DEPARTMENT OF DEC 22. 2017 CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Respondent, and KOBEH VALLEY RANCH, LLC; ETCHEVERRY FAMILY LTD. PARTNERSHIP; DIAMOND CATTLE COMPANY, LLC; AND DIAMOND NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTION & CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION, Real Parties in Interest.

ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS OR PROHIBITION This is an original petition for a writ of mandamus or prohibition seeking to prohibit the State Engineer from acting on applications to appropriate water. Having reviewed the documents submitted in this matter, and without deciding upon the merits of any claims raised therein, we are not persuaded that our extraordinary and discretionary intervention is warranted. See NRS 34.160; NRS 34.320; Smith v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, 107 Nev. 674, 677, 679, 818 P.2d 849, 851, 853 (1991). First, petitioner Eureka County sought to prohibit respondent the State Engineer from commencing further action with Kobeh Valley Ranch, LLC's (KVR) new applications until this court had resolved the matter in State Engineer v. Eureka County, 133 Nev., Adv. Op. 71, 402 P.3d SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA

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klagei 1249 (2017). As this court has resolved the matter in State Engineer, we conclude that the requested relief is moot. See Personhood Nev. v. Bristol, 126 Nev. 599, 602, 245 P.3d 572, 574 (2010) ("[A] controversy must be present through all stages of the proceeding, and even though a case may present a live controversy at its beginning, subsequent events may render the case moot." (internal citations omitted)). Second, Eureka County seeks to direct the State Engineer to consider other pending applications with an earlier priority date than KVR's pending applications in the same hydrographic basin. However, "when the Legislature has created a right to petition for judicial review, that right constitutes an adequate and speedy legal remedy, which generally precludes writ relief." Howell v. Ricci, 124 Nev. 1222, 1229, 197 P.3d 1044, 1049 (2008) (internal quotation marks omitted); NRS 34.170; NRS 34.330. Eureka County concedes that it has a statutory right to petition for judicial review of any subsequent decisions by the State Engineer under NRS 533.450. Accordingly, we ORDER the petition DENIED.

6--LA det,Ott Hardesty

J. Parraguirre

J.

SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA

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CFI cc: Allison MacKenzie, Ltd. Eureka County District Attorney Attorney General/Carson City Taggart & Taggart, Ltd. McDonald Carano LLP/Reno Parsons Behle & Latimer/Salt Lake City Parsons Behle & Latimer/Reno Schroeder Law Offices, P.C. Eureka County Clerk

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