In Re Clinton Water District

218 P.2d 309, 36 Wash. 2d 284, 1950 Wash. LEXIS 294
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedMay 3, 1950
Docket31131
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 218 P.2d 309 (In Re Clinton Water District) 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
In Re Clinton Water District, 218 P.2d 309, 36 Wash. 2d 284, 1950 Wash. LEXIS 294 (Wash. 1950).

Opinions

Grady, J.

This proceeding was instituted by Clinton water district of Island county to condemn, appropriate, and take from Deer lake 0.155 cubic feet of water per second for domestic uses. The court determined the amount of damages which the riparian land owners would sustain by reason of the appropriation, and the district has appealed. In this opinion, the district will be referred to as the appellant, and the riparian property owners as respondents.

The Clinton water district is approximately one square mile in area and has a population of about three hundred persons. Its water supply is inadequate to meet the needs of those residing within its limits. Deer lake is a natural, nonnavigable body of fresh water, located about one-half mile west of the district. It has an area of about 112 acres and a maximum depth of 50 feet.

[286]*286The land bordering on the lake has been divided into approximately twenty-six privately owned tracts. Some of them are wholly in their natural and unimproved state. Others have been improved and are being used for residential, agricultural and commercial purposes. The tracts most suitable for country lakeside homes are of sufficient area so that a resident may have a garden and domestic animals and fowls. The owners of three tracts use their properties for commercial purposes, such as renting cabins, camping and picnic facilities, and boats. One property owner operates a twelve-acre tract planted to loganberries. This tract slopes toward the lake and requires intensive fertilization.

The lake affords opportunity for boating, bathing, swimming, and fishing by the residents and the patrons of the commercial places. Access to the lake also permits the use of its water by the livestock and fowls of the property owners. The full use of the land will necessarily result in surface drainage and seepage into the lake other than that which is natural.

The state hydraulic engineer refused to issue a permit to appellant to appropriate water from Deer lake until it had' condemned the riparian rights affected by such appropriation. That action was in harmony with Burrows v. Grays Harbor Boom Co., 44 Wash. 630, 87 Pac. 937, and In re Martha Lake Water Co. No. 1, 152 Wash. 53, 277 Pac. 382.

The beneficial use of the water of the lake by respondents for consumption and use upon their lands, as defined and' limited in Proctor v. Sim, 134 Wash. 606, 236 Pac. 114, will' not be affected by the appropriation of the quantity of water desired by appellant, and it does not appear the court con-' sidered such a factor as an element of damage. The court found that there will be no actual physical damage to the: riparian lands by the diversion of the water of the lake due to the lowering of the water level, and therefore we do not have for consideration the elements of damage involved in In re Martha Lake Water Co. No. 1, supra, or Litka v. Anacortes, 167 Wash. 259, 9 P. (2d) 88. The court was of the’ opinion that riparian rights of respondents would be so [287]*287affected by the operation of health laws and regulations in the protection of the water supply sought by appellant that their properties would be depreciated in value, and made awards to them on that basis.

The basic question for our determination is whether the uses of the lake made by respondents in connection with their ownership and occupancy of their riparian lands are such property rights that their loss or limitation constitute a damage for which compensation must be made.

The appellant contends that the use of waters of the lake for swimming, bathing, boating, and fishing are not vested property rights, but are mere incidents of ownership, and if the act having the effect of depriving the riparian owners of such incidental rights is legal, it amounts to nothing more than damage without injury; and even though the state may prevent the use of the lake and its waters in any manner that may cause the water to become contaminated and not suitable for domestic use, such will be the exercise of the police power of the state, for which there can be no •recourse by way of damages for depreciation in the market value of the land.

. When the respondents or their predecessors in interest acquired their patents, they acquired title to the center of the lake, and riparian rights attached and became appurtenant thereto or incidents of their ownership. They became vested property rights and are included in the protection afforded by Art. I, § 16, of the state constitution, providing that private property shall not be taken or damaged for public or private use without just compensation.

One of such rights is access to the water, which carries with it the rights of boating, bathing, swimming, and fishing. If the land can be used for agricultural purposes, there is incidental thereto the right of drainage into the lake and the right of access by domestic animals and fowls; and if it is capable of use for residential purposes, many rights may be exercised and enjoyed which have always been recognized as riparian rights, reasonable use and due regard for similar rights of others being the standard of conduct. [288]*288Neither the courts nor the text writers have attempted to promulgate an all-inclusive definition of riparian rights, but reference to those referred to may be found in Bowman v. Walthen, 2 McLean 376, Fed. Cas. No. 1740; City of New York v. Wilson & Co., 278 N. Y. 86, 15 N. E. (2d) 408; Soo Sand & Gravel Co. v. M. Sullivan Dredging Co., 259 Mich. 489, 244 N. W. 138; Griffith v. Holman, 23 Wash. 347, 63 Pac. 239, 83 Am. St. 821, 54 L. R. A. 178; McEvoy v. Taylor, 56 Wash. 357, 105 Pac. 851, 26 L. R. A. (N.S.) 222; 56 Am. Jur. 808, Waters, §§ 383, 384. Access rights were inferentially recognized in In re Martha Lake Water Co. No. 1, supra.

Rem. Rev. Stat, §§ 2542 and 9474 [P.P.C. §§ 118-169, 423-43], forbid any one to deposit or suffer to be deposited in a lake, the water of which is or may be used for drinking purposes, any matter or thing which can or may pollute the water or do any other act or maintain any condition which might result in such pollution. Regulations of the state board of health forbid fishing, boating, bathing, or wading in a lake from which water is taken for domestic use within a distance of five miles from the intake. Domestic animals may not be permitted to go into such water within that distance from the intake. The board of health is required to enact special rules whenever it becomes desirablé because of local conditions to protect a public water supply. Public authorities are required to take all such action as may be necessary to prevent contamination of the water so used.

If the appellant is permitted to appropriate water from Deer lake for domestic uses, it then becomes the mandatory duty of the board of health to enforce the statutes and the rules and regulations to the end that the domestic water supply will not become contaminated; and if this is done, the property of the respondents will be damaged by depreciation in market values because of curtailment of their riparian rights. It is very clear from the evidence in the record that, if respondents are deprived of the rights of boating, bathing, swimming, and fishing, their property will be less valuable as lakeside homes, or for the commercial uses involving such activities. Enforcement of health [289]*289restrictions will impair the value of property for agricultural and other uses.

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In Re Clinton Water District
218 P.2d 309 (Washington Supreme Court, 1950)

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Bluebook (online)
218 P.2d 309, 36 Wash. 2d 284, 1950 Wash. LEXIS 294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-clinton-water-district-wash-1950.