Gerlach Live Stock Co. v. United States

102 Ct. Cl. 392, 1944 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 33, 1944 WL 3747
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedOctober 2, 1944
DocketNo. 46009
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 102 Ct. Cl. 392 (Gerlach Live Stock Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gerlach Live Stock Co. v. United States, 102 Ct. Cl. 392, 1944 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 33, 1944 WL 3747 (cc 1944).

Opinion

Whitakee, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, as the owner of certain lands described in its petition which were riparian to the San Joaquin Eiver, sues to recover the value of its water rights in said river of which it alleges it has been deprived by the erection of the Friant Dam. It alleges that as the owner of said lands it was entitled to the use of the waters of the San Joaquin Eiver for irrigation, for the watering of stock, and for domestic purposes, but that in derogation of those rights, the defendant by the construction of the Friant Dam, completed on October 20,1941, has completely diverted all of the waters of the San Joaquin Eiver from plaintiff’s lands and has conveyed them through canals to. certain other lands non-riparian to said river; that the value of these water rights was.$14,760; that this amount has been deposited by the defendant in escrow, to be paid to Miller & Lux, Inc., unless plaintiff establishes its right to it by suit in this court. The claim of Miller & [394]*394Lux, Inc., is founded on a reservation in the deed from it to plaintiff’s grantor, in which it was recited that the conveyance of the lands are subject “to the water rights of the grantor * * * whether such water rights be riparian, appropria-tive, or prescriptive * * * including the right to contract for or permit storage on the upper reaches of the San Joaquin River * * *. This covenant and condition shall not be construed as an extinguishment of the riparian rights of the land herein conveyed, but as an estoppel in favor of the grantor * * * against the grantee * * * to the extent herein provided.”

The demurrer, however, is not grounded on this conflict in interest; its sole ground is that plaintiff’s petition “fails to allege a taking of plaintiff’s property or property rights within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution; that such damages as are alleged are indirect, consequential and not within the jurisdiction of the court.”

Defendant says that its purpose in erecting this dam was not only to irrigate certain arid lands, but was also done for the purpose of flood control, and, hence, in aid of navigation; and, therefore, that defendant is not liable for any resulting injury to plaintiff’s riparian rights. It relies, among others, upon the cases of Gibson v. United States, 166 U. S. 269; United States v. Rio Grande Irrigation Co., 174 U. S. 690; United States v. Chandler-Dunbar Co., 229 U. S. 53; Greenleaf Lumber Co. v. Garrison, 237 U. S. 251; Sanguinetti v. United States, 264 U. S. 146; United States v. Appalachian Power Co., 311 U. S. 377; Oklahoma v. Atkinson Co., 313 U. S. 508.

This proposition of law may be conceded; but plaintiff’s petition alleges that the purpose in the erection of this dam was not to aid navigation, but solely to irrigate certain arid lands. If this is true, we think the defendant is liable for the taking of whatever riparian rights plaintiff had in the water of this river. A landowner’s rights in a navigable stream are subject to the paramount right of the Government to take whatever steps it deems necessary in the improvement of navigation; but the Government has no such right in the waters of a stream for irrigation purposes. Cf. Horstmann Co. v. United States, 257 U. S. 138. Certainly it has [395]*395not the right to take the water away from one man and sell it to another without compensating the man deprived of it. Plaintiff’s riparian rights in this stream, if any, was a property right, of which it cannot be deprived without being paid just compensation.

However, defendant says the plaintiff’s land has not been taken, but has only been damaged by the destruction of its riparian rights, and that this court has jurisdiction only of a suit for a taking of land and not for damages to it. We do not think this is a suit for damages to land; it is one for the taking of a right plaintiff had to use the water of this river. This is a property right, for the taking of which the owner is entitled to just compensation. Yates v. Milwaukee, 10 Wallace 497, 504. In this case the Supreme Court said:

This riparian right is property, and is valuable, and, though it must be enjoyed in due subjection to the rights of the public, it cannot be arbitrarily or capriciously destroyed or impaired. It is a right of which, when once vested, the owner can only be deprived in accordance with established law, and if necessary that it be taken for the public good, upon due compensation.

See also Kaukauna Co. v. Green Bay, etc., Canal, 142 U. S. 254; United States v. Cress, 243 U. S. 316; Willow River Power Co. v. United States, No. 45067, decided February 7, 1944. Cf. Horstmann Co. v. United States, 257 U. S. 138.

But the defendant says that the Acts of Congress authorizing the construction of this dam and the reports to which they refer show that a part of the purpose was to aid navigation, and that on the demurrer we must take those Acts into consideration as well as the allegations of plaintiff’s petition.

It is said that this project was originally authorized by the Act of August 30, 1935 (c. 831, 49 Stat. 1028, at page 1038.) Section 1 of this Act provides in part as follows:

That the following works of improvement of rivers, harbors, and other waterways are hereby adopted and authorized, to be prosecuted under the direction of the Secretary of War and supervision of the Chief of Engineers, in accordance with the plans recommended in the respective reports hereinafter designated and subject to the conditions set forth in such documents. * * *

[396]*396At page 1038 there is listed “San Joaquin Liver and Stockton Channel, and Suisan Bay, California; Report of Chief of Engineers dated June 10, 1933.” An examination of that report shows, however, that no reference was made to the Eriant Dam or to any improvement of the San Joaquin River above Stockton, which place is many miles below plaintiff’s lands and the Friant Dam.

The work was done under the power conferred on the President by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved on April 8,1935 (c. 48, 49 Stat. 115), and the Reclamation Act of June 17,1902 (32 Stat.

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Related

Gerlach Livestock Co. v. United States
76 F. Supp. 87 (Court of Claims, 1948)
Gerlach Live Stock Co. v. United States
76 F. Supp. 87 (Court of Claims, 1948)

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102 Ct. Cl. 392, 1944 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 33, 1944 WL 3747, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gerlach-live-stock-co-v-united-states-cc-1944.