People ex rel. Kuiper v. Winden

580 P.2d 1238, 196 Colo. 6
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedJune 26, 1978
DocketNo. 27706
StatusPublished

This text of 580 P.2d 1238 (People ex rel. Kuiper v. Winden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. Kuiper v. Winden, 580 P.2d 1238, 196 Colo. 6 (Colo. 1978).

Opinion

MR. JUSTICE GROVES

delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this action the State Engineer and a division engineer were successful in obtaining an injunction enjoining the defendants from irrigating certain lands with well water. We affirm in part and reverse in part, and remand for a rehearing as to one issue.

In this opinion references to the parties will be as follows: The plaintiffs-appellees State Engineer and division engineer will be referred to collectively as “State Engineer.” The involuntary Plaintiff-Appellee, The Board of Water Works of Pueblo, Colorado, will be referred to as “Pueblo.” The Defendant-Appellants George Winden, Ebert L. Hawkins and F. E. Wittmore will be called the “defendants.” We refer to the Intervenors-Appellees as the “intervenors.” The Booth Orchard Grove Ditch Company (not a party here) will be called “Booth Co.”

The Booth Co. held a number of decrees for water from the Arkansas River, and transported the water through its Booth Orchard Grove Ditch, delivering it to its shareholders for irrigation of the shareholders’ land. The defendants were shareholders in Booth Co.

Pueblo and Booth Co. entered into an agreement whereby, subject to certain conditions, Pueblo would purchase Booth’s water rights for approximately $4,500,000. Booth Co. and Pueblo filed an application in the District Court for Water Division No. 2, praying for changes to alternate points of diversion and for change of use. This was Case No. W-145. The intervenors and others objected. Later, Pueblo, Booth Co. and the objectors reached an agreement and entered into stipulations, under which the water court heard evidence and on April 15, 1972, entered a decree.

This decree permitted the requested changes. It provided:

“[T]he lands historically irrigated by use of water diverted under the water rights which are the subject of this action shall be permanently removed from agricultural irrigation by means of water withdrawn from the Arkansas River, its tributaries or underground water tributary thereto. . . . The lands upon which this prohibition shall operate are those lands shown in shading on the attached map, Exhibit A. . . .” (Emphasis added)
[9]*9“[One of the purposes of the meeting is to] review and again vote upon a proposal to sell substantially all of the corporation’s assets to the Board of Water Works in Pueblo, Colorado, in accordance with the contract enclosed. That is the same contract approved by you at the meeting of shareholders held on December 3, 1970. However, the transfer proceeding has now been concluded and the directors want the shareholders to review the contract along with the decree authorizing transfer of The Booth-Orchard Grove Ditch Company water rights to an alternate point of diversion. A copy of the decree is also enclosed.”

[8]*8A special meeting of the shareholders of Booth Co. was held on August 31, 1972. Notice of this meeting was sent in advance to the shareholders, including the defendants, advising that one of the purposes of the meeting was to consider and vote upon a plan of complete liquidation and dissolution of the corporation. The notice further provided:

[9]*9At the meeting, which was attended by the defendants Winden and Hawkins, but not by the defendant Wittmore, there were explanations of the decree and the map. At this meeting the contract with Pueblo was overwhelmingly approved, the defendants Hawkins and Winden voting in favor of ratification. Dissolution of the corporation was also approved. Thereafter, the shareholders were paid their proportionate share of the assets, which consisted primarily of the funds received from the sale of the water rights to Pueblo. The defendant Hawkins received $100,000, defendant Winden approximately $42,500 and the defendant Whittmore approximately $17,500.

In 1975 it was brought to the attention of the State Engineer that the defendants were irrigating their lands, which were within the shaded area on the map, with well water which was tributary to the Arkansas River. Thereupon, the State Engineer brought the injunction action now before us.

As defenses the defendants asserted in the water court, and assert here, that they are not bound by the decree in Case No. W-145 for the reasons that they were not parties to the proceeding, they had no legal notice of the proceeding, and the use of well water was not involved in the case. The water judge ruled as follows:

“The Court does not make any ruling as to the validity of those arguments as such a determination is not necessary in disposing of this case, in view of the conduct of the Defendants subsequent to the entry of the Decree. For the purpose of this decision, again without determining these issues, the Court will assume that at the time of its entry, the Decree was void as to these Defendants.”

The court then held against the defendants on the basis of estoppel. It said:

“‘One who accepts and retains the fruits of a void judgment cannot after-wards repudiate his action and take advantage of its invalidity.’ Arthur v. Israel, 15 Colo. 147, 25 P. 81, 82 (1890). This doctrine has been applied to those seeking collaterally to attack decrees adjudicating water rights. Hinderlider v. Town of Berthoud, 77 Colo. 504, 238 P. 64 (1925). Although it is generally held that the persons being estopped by his conduct must have been a party (or privy thereof) to the decree, the estoppel may [10]*10be applied to third parties in a proper case. Freeman, Judgments §§320, 1438 (5th ed. 1920).”

We agree with the conclusions of the water court that the defendants’ wells pump waters which are tributary to the Arkansas River, and that the “continued use of tributary wells to irrigate lands historically irrigated by the Booth-Orchard Grove Ditch will deprive appropriators on the Arkansas River of water to which they are legally entitled.” See Kuiper v. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, 195 Colo. 557, 581 P.2d 293.

The appellees make no attempt to claim that, absent estoppel, the defendants are bound by the decree in Case No. W-145; and the appellees merely ask affirmance of the water court’s ruling which was predicated on estoppel.

Our reversal is upon the portion of the decree in Case No. W-145 which states, “The lands upon which this prohibition shall operate are those lands shown in shading on the attached map, Exhibit A.”

I.

We affirm the water court in its ruling as to the portion of the decree in Case No. W-145 which states:

“[T]he lands historically irrigated by use of water diverted under the water rights which are the subject of this action shall be permanently removed from agricultural irrigation by means of water withdrawn from the Arkansas River, its tributaries or underground water tributary thereto. . . .”

The evidence and the law support the water court’s findings, conclusions and decree. In addition to the authorities as to estoppel cited by the water court, see In Re Estate of Lee, 170 Colo. 419, 462 P.2d 492 (1969); Hunt v. Hunt, 83 Colo. 282, 264 P. 662 (1928); Kerr v. Burns, 42 Colo. 285, 93 P. 1120 (1908); Consolidated Home Supply Ditch and Res. Co. v.

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Related

Estate of Lee v. Graber
462 P.2d 492 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1969)
Hinderlider v. Town of Berthoud
238 P. 64 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1925)
Hunt v. Hunt
264 P. 662 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1928)
Union Provision & Distributing Corp. v. Fisher
49 A.2d 85 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1946)
Arthur v. Israel
15 Colo. 147 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1890)
Boulder & Weld County Ditch Co. v. Lower Boulder Ditch Co.
22 Colo. 115 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1896)
Handy Ditch Co. v. South Side Ditch Co.
26 Colo. 333 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1899)
Kerr v. Burns
42 Colo. 285 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1908)
Deering Harvester Co. v. Donovan
84 N.W. 745 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1901)

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Bluebook (online)
580 P.2d 1238, 196 Colo. 6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-kuiper-v-winden-colo-1978.