Fort v. STATE, DEPT. OF ECOLOGY

135 P.3d 515
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 23, 2006
Docket24039-8-III
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 135 P.3d 515 (Fort v. STATE, DEPT. OF ECOLOGY) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fort v. STATE, DEPT. OF ECOLOGY, 135 P.3d 515 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

135 P.3d 515 (2006)
133 Wash.App. 90

Michael FORT, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Washington DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY, Respondent.

No. 24039-8-III.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3.

May 23, 2006.

Darren T. Burchill, Donald L. Dimmitt, Jeffers, Danielson, Sonn & Aylward, PS, Wenatchee, WA, for Appellant.

Maia D. Bellon, Atty Generals Ofc/Ecology Div., Olympia, WA, for Respondent.

SCHULTHEIS, A.C.J.

¶ 1 Michael D. Fort received a notice of regulation from the Department of Ecology (Ecology) for exceeding the amount of water allotted to him under a 1921 water rights adjudication decree. He appealed to the Pollution Control Hearings Board (the Board), seeking a favorable interpretation of the decree or application of the common law futile call doctrine. The Board granted summary judgment in favor of Ecology. The superior court denied his petition for judicial review. We conclude that the Board's decision was proper under RCW 34.05.570(3) and affirm.

*516 FACTS

¶ 2 The parties stipulated to the essential facts. The rights and priorities to the waters of Beaver Creek, the water source at issue, were adjudicated in a September 1921 decree.[1] The decree authorized Mr. Fort to divert water from Beaver Creek as a successor in interest to a class 1 water right connected to portions of his real property as well as class 8 and 9 rights associated with other portions of his land. There are 18 classes of water rights designated in the decree. Mr. Fort's class 1 right is the most senior on Beaver Creek. Beaver Creek is a tributary to the Methow River, which is a tributary to the Columbia River. Mr. Fort's point of diversion is currently the last one on Beaver Creek before the creek's confluence with the Methow River. His point of diversion is the same for his class 1, 8, and 9 water rights.

¶ 3 In 2001, insufficient water was available to satisfy all classes of water users on Beaver Creek. The decree provides that when the water supply is insufficient to supply all 18 classes, the rights of the higher classes, beginning with class 1, will be satisfied first before members of the subordinate classes will be permitted to draw water from the creek. Ecology, through the Okanogan County watermaster, therefore ordered all rights junior to class 5 to be shut off sometime between May 27, 2001 and June 10, 2001. Class 5 water rights were shut off on July 5. The watermaster advised Mr. Fort several times during this curtailment period that diversion of class 8 and 9 waters was a violation of the decree.

¶ 4 On September 10, Mr. Fort e-mailed the watermaster his water diversion records together with an electronic message stating that he was irrigating his class 8 and 9 lands along with his class 1 land. The records showed that the water diverted exceeded 2.90 cubic feet per second (cfs), the total amount of water that a class 1 right property owner is entitled to divert. That day, the watermaster inspected Mr. Fort's diversion point and observed 3.25 cfs being diverted. She posted a notice of regulation on Mr. Fort's weir directing Mr. Fort to stop exceeding his class 1 diversion rate of 2.90 cfs. For the next several days, the Beaver Creek stream patroller inspected the weir and recorded her observations: on September 11 the diversion rate was 3.36 cfs; on September 12 it was 3.57 cfs; and on September 14 it was 3.05 cfs. Based on these observed and admitted water diversions, Ecology issued Mr. Fort a penalty of $1,500. Mr. Fort appealed the notice of regulation requiring him to curtail his class 8 and class 9 water rights and requiring him to limit his diversion to 2.90 cfs in accordance with his class 1 water right and the notice of penalty. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The Board issued an order granting partial summary judgment in Ecology's favor. The order resolved all issues except the reasonableness of the $1,500 penalty. The Board dismissed the penalty portion of the case after Mr. Fort withdrew his challenge to the reasonableness of the penalty and the parties reached a stipulation ending the case.

¶ 5 Mr. Fort filed a petition for judicial review challenging the Board's order granting partial summary judgment. The Okanogan County Superior Court entered a final order denying his petition for judicial review. Mr. Fort appeals the superior court's order.

*517 DISCUSSION

¶ 6 Judicial review of the Pollution Control Hearings Board is governed by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), chapter 34.05 RCW. Port of Seattle v. Pollution Control Hearings Bd., 151 Wash.2d 568, 587, 90 P.3d 659 (2004). Under the APA, judicial review is confined to the administrative record before the Board. Id.; RCW 34.05.558. "This court sits in the same position as the superior court and reviews the Board's decision by applying the standards of review in RCW 34.05.570 directly to the agency record." Postema v. Pollution Control Hearings Bd., 142 Wash.2d 68, 77, 11 P.3d 726 (2000). "The burden of demonstrating the invalidity of agency action is on the party asserting invalidity." RCW 34.05.570(1)(a).

¶ 7 Agency action is subject to reversal if the agency's order is outside its statutory authority or jurisdiction, if the agency has erroneously interpreted or applied the law, if the agency's order is not supported by substantial evidence, or if the agency's decision is arbitrary or capricious. RCW 34.05.570(3)(b), (d), (e), (i); Port of Seattle, 151 Wash.2d at 587-89, 90 P.3d 659. Under the "error of law" standard, the court engages in a de novo review of the agency's legal conclusions. RCW 34.05.570(3)(c), (d); City of Redmond v. Cent. Puget Sound Growth Mgmt. Hearings Bd., 136 Wash.2d 38, 45, 959 P.2d 1091 (1998).

¶ 8 The Board held that,

Ecology was obligated under the plain language of the decree to regulate according to class. There is nothing inherent in the decree that excuses [Mr. Fort] from compliance with the class regulation. Nothing in the futile call doctrine, even if applicable, excuses regulation under the plain language of the decree. In short, [Mr. Fort] do[es] not have a right to take class 8 or 9 water if that class has been regulated because there is insufficient water available.

Clerk's Papers (CP) at 583.

¶ 9 Mr. Fort first contends that the Board erred by refusing to allow him to withdraw class 8 and 9 water when he can do so without interfering with the rights of superior classes.

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Bluebook (online)
135 P.3d 515, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fort-v-state-dept-of-ecology-washctapp-2006.