Teel Irrigation District v. Water Resources Department

898 P.2d 1344, 135 Or. App. 16, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 941, 1995 WL 371602
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 21, 1995
Docket93-0201; CA A81025
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 898 P.2d 1344 (Teel Irrigation District v. Water Resources Department) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Teel Irrigation District v. Water Resources Department, 898 P.2d 1344, 135 Or. App. 16, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 941, 1995 WL 371602 (Or. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

[18]*18WARREN, P. J.

The Water Resources Department and the Water Resources Commission (the department) appeal a circuit court judgment setting aside three orders that limit plaintiff Teel Irrigation District’s (Teel) use of water under two water rights permits. ORS 183.484; ORS 183.500. We reverse, in part.

An overview of the law that governs water rights will provide a better understanding of our discussion of this case. Water rights in Oregon are based on appropriation for a beneficial use. A person seeking the right to beneficially use surface water must, before beginning any construction on diversion works, apply for and obtain a permit from the department for the appropriation. ORS 537.130. When the application is for a permit for irrigation, it must include “the legal subdivisions of the land and the acreage to be irrigated, asnear as maybe.” ORS 537.140(1)(b). The permit allows the holder to divert water from its source and apply it to a beneficial use, and it sets the priority date for the water right in relation to other users. When the diversion is complete and the application to a beneficial purpose accomplished, the permit holder must submit a survey of the appropriation, called a final proof survey, to the department. ORS 537.230. If the department finds, based on the final proof survey, that the appropriation has been perfected in accordance with the law, the department will issue a water rights certificate. ORS 537.250. “The certificate represents the vested, perfected water right with a priority date of the time the original permit application was filed.” Janet C. Neuman, “Oregon” in 6 Waters and Water Rights 704 (Robert E. Beck ed, 1994). Perfected water rights are appurtenant to the land, so that they travel with the land, unless the seller specifically withholds those rights on sale. In re Waters of Deschutes River, 134 Or 623, 286 P 563 (1930); ORS 540.510. A holder, of a perfected water right can apply water to lands other than those to which the water right is appurtenant, by filing an alternate acreage petition with the department and obtaining its approval. ORS 540.520; ORS 540.570.

Turning to the facts of this case, Teel is an irrigation district located in Umatilla County, organized pursuant to ORS chapter 545, for the purpose of delivering irrigation [19]*19water to patrons within its district. The department is the state agency charged with administering water resources in this state. In 1957, Teel entered into an agreement with the United States Bureau of Reclamation, which constructed the McKay Dam and Reservoir, under which the Bureau agreed to deliver to Teel water stored in McKay Reservoir. In 1959, the department approved two applications by Teel for water rights permits and issued to Teel two permits allowing use of water. The permits, numbers 25920 and 25924, bear priority dates of 1955 and 1958, describe the acreage to be irrigated and provide that Teel may use water from two sources: streamflow from the Umatilla River and water stored in McKay Reservoir. The permits provide that Teel’s use of water stored in McKay Reservoir is subject to the terms of the Bureau of Reclamation contract. The permits require Teel to complete construction of its diversion works and to apply water by 1961. Teel did not complete the diversion works by 1961. However, because Teel was exercising due diligence toward completion of the project, the department authorized extensions to allow completion by 1989.

Although the record is not entirely clear on this point, it appears that the 1957 contract with the Bureau of Reclamation either expired or was canceled sometime around 1980. Nonetheless, the Bureau of Reclamation continued to provide Teel with water from McKay Reservoir through the 1992 irrigation season. Since 1984, that water has been provided to Teel through a delivery contract Teel has with Westland Irrigation District (Westland). Westland has its own agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation for use of other water stored in McKay Reservoir.

During the time when Teel was developing its diversion system pursuant to the water rights permits, the department represented to Teel that the law allowed Teel to irrigate lands other than those specifically described in the permits. The department interpreted the Water Rights Act to allow use of water on substituted lands during development of the appropriation. According to department practice, a definitive determination of the lands to which the water right would be appurtenant would occur when the final proof survey showed what lands were actually being irrigated, and the water rights certificate would be issued based on that final proof survey.

[20]*20In 1988 and 1989, the department began to prepare a final proof survey to ascertain what lands were being irrigated under Teel’s permits, for the purpose of issuing water rights certificates.1 The final proof survey apparently was completed sometime before December 1991.

In December 1991, the department sent a letter to Teel, informing it that the department was drafting water rights certificates for the two permits, and that the certificates would not allow use of water from McKay Reservoir,

“because there was no contract with the Bureau of Reclamation in force at the time of final proof, as required in the permits.
“This is notice to you that no stored water from McKay Reservoir will be allowed under permits 25920 and 25924, beginning with the 1992 irrigation season.”

In 1992, the governor declared that a drought existed in Umatilla County, and the department temporarily authorized Teel to use water from McKay Reservoir, pursuant to an agreement with Westland to deliver the water. That agreement and the department’s authorization expired at the end of the 1992 irrigation season.

In January 1993, the department issued proposed water rights certificates to Teel. After the proposed certificates were issued, Teel filed an alternate acreage petition, based on ORS 540.510 and ORS 540.570, seeking approval to change its place of use of some of the irrigation water.

On February 5, 1993, the department sent another letter to Teel, noting that the drought agreements had expired at the end of the 1992 irrigation season. The letter also said:

“This letter is further confirmation that you may not use McKay Reservoir water on lands under permits 25920 and 25924.

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Teel Irrigation District v. Water Resources Department
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898 P.2d 1344, 135 Or. App. 16, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 941, 1995 WL 371602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/teel-irrigation-district-v-water-resources-department-orctapp-1995.