Westlands Water District v. United States

109 Fed. Cl. 177, 43 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20021, 2013 U.S. Claims LEXIS 11, 2013 WL 308638
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJanuary 15, 2013
Docket12-12C
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 109 Fed. Cl. 177 (Westlands Water District v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westlands Water District v. United States, 109 Fed. Cl. 177, 43 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20021, 2013 U.S. Claims LEXIS 11, 2013 WL 308638 (uscfc 2013).

Opinion

Breach of Contract Claims; Declaratory Judgment; Motion to Dismiss Under RCFC 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6)

OPINION AND ORDER

HEWITT, Chief Judge

Westlands Water District (plaintiff or Westlands), a water district in the state of California, buys and distributes water from the San Luis unit of the Central Valley project, which is administered by the Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of the Interi- or (Interior). Compl., Docket Number (Dkt. No.) 1, ¶¶2, 5, 12. Westlands brings this action alleging various breaches of a purported contractual obligation of the United States government (defendant or the government) to provide drainage to Westlands, based on the government’s failure to provide water drainage facilities and services. See id. ¶¶ 5-7.

Specifically, plaintiff states six claims for relief. The first two claims present alternative breach of contract theories: (1) past *184 breaches of express contractual drainage obligations, Compl. ¶¶ 131-36; or, in the alternative, (2) past breaches of implied contractual drainage obligations, id. ¶¶ 137-42. The third, fourth and fifth claims are dependent on the court’s finding a contractual duty to provide drainage: (3) past breaches of implied contractual obligations of good faith and fair dealing, id. ¶¶ 143-50; (4) total breach of contract regarding drainage obligations, id. ¶¶ 151-56; and (5) anticipatory breach of contract regarding drainage obligations, id. ¶¶ 157-63. Finally, plaintiff states an alternate claim for relief, should the court find neither a total nor anticipatory breach of contract, as alleged in claims four and five, respectively: (6) declaratory judgment adjusting any amounts due by Westlands pursuant to present and future repayment contracts so that Westlands will not have to repay the government higher actual costs of construction under those contracts, as a result of inflation, than it would have had to pay if construction had not been delayed. Id. ¶¶ 164-76. In connection with (and as a condition of) its claims for total breach and anticipatory breach, plaintiff also seeks a declaration of the severability of defendant’s contractual obligation to provide water service from defendant’s purported contractual obligation to provide drainage. Id. ¶¶ 156, 163; Corrected Response to Motion to Dismiss (plaintiffs Response or Pl.’s Resp.), Dkt. No. 29, at 46.

Now before the court, in addition to plaintiffs Complaint, are: Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, (defendant’s Motion or Def.’s Mot.), Dkt. No. 12, filed May 21, 2012, and Appendix to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (defendant’s Appendix or Def.’s App.), Dkt. Nos. 12-1-2; plaintiffs Response to Motion to Dismiss, Dkt. No. 18, filed August 20, 2012, which was superseded by plaintiffs Response, filed September 26, 2012; and Defendant’s Reply in Support of Our Motion to Dismiss (defendant’s Reply or Def.’s Reply), Dkt. No. 32, filed October 12, 2012. Plaintiff also filed an Appendix in Support of Response to Motion to Dismiss, Dkt. Nos. 18-1 to 18-4, filed Aug. 20, 2012, which was superseded by plaintiffs Appendix in Support of Corrected Response to Motion to Dismiss (plaintiffs Appendix or Pl.’s App.), Dkt. Nos. 29-1 to 29-7, filed September 26, 2012.

Defendant argues that all six of plaintiffs claims must be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC), asserting that, under RCFC 12(b)(1), this court lacks jurisdiction over all of plaintiffs claims except claim five (anticipatory breach) and that, under RCFC 12(b)(6), plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted with respect to all six claims. Def.’s Mot. 1.

For the reasons set forth below, defendant’s Motion is GRANTED.

I. Background 1

A Creation of the San Luis Unit as Part of the Federal Reclamation Program

1. Relevant Federal Reclamation Laws 2

In 1902, Congress created a “ ‘reclamation fund’” in the Treasury — to be funded by public land sales — for “the construction and maintenance of irrigation works” to reclaim arid and semiarid lands in the western United States for productive use. Reclamation Act of 1902 (1902 Act), eh. 1093, § 1, 32 Stat. 388 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 43 U.S.C.). The Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) received authority to contract for construction of such irrigation projects and to pay for them out of the newly created reclamation fund. Id. § 4, 32 Stat. at 389. However, these expenditures were meant to be reimbursed: pursuant to the 1902 Act, equitably apportioned charges would be levied upon irrigated lands “with a view of returning to the reclamation fund the estimated cost of construction of the project.” *185 Id. After a “major portion” of the construction costs were paid, “management and operation of [the] irrigation works” would then “pass to the owners of the [irrigated] lands.” Id. § 6, 32 Stat. at 389. “[T]itle to and the management and operation of the reservoirs ... [would] remain in the Government until otherwise provided by Congress.” Id., 32 Stat. at 389.

Congress supplemented the 1902 Act with the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (1939 Act), eh. 418, 53 Stat. 1187 (codified as amended at 43 U.S.C. §§ 485-485k (2006)), “to provide a feasible and comprehensive plan for the variable payment of construction charges on United States reclamation projects,” id. § 1, 53 Stat. at 1187. Specifically, the 1939 Act described two different contract schemes: repayment contracts and water service contracts. Id. § 9(d)-(e), 53 Stat. at 1195-96 (codified as amended at 43 U.S.C. § 485h(d)-(e)). Generally, organizations contracting for water would be required to enter a repayment contract with the United States before any water could “be delivered for irrigation of lands in connection with any new project.” Id. § 9(d), 53 Stat. at 1195. These repayment contracts would treat actual construction costs allocated to irrigation as “a general repayment obligation” to the United States. Id. § 9(d)(3), 53 Stat. at 1195. Repayment would “be spread in annual installments, of the number and amounts fixed by the Secretary, over a period not exceeding forty years.” Id. “[T]he first annual installment for any project contract unit” would accrue “on the date fixed by the Secretary, [either] in the year after the last year of the development period,” or if there was no development period, “in the calendar year after the Secretary announce[d] that the construction contemplated in the repayment contract is substantially completed or ... advanced to a point where delivery of water can be made to substantially all of the lands” in the contract unit. Id. § 9(d)(4), 53 Stat. at 1196.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Tindall v. United States
Federal Claims, 2025
Salazar v. United States
Federal Claims, 2022
Harvey v. United States
Federal Claims, 2020
Bennett v. United States
Federal Claims, 2018
Ost, Inc. v. United States
Federal Claims, 2018
Kemper
Federal Claims, 2018
Wade v. United States
Federal Claims, 2018
Swain County v. United States
Federal Claims, 2017
Financial & Realty Services, LLC v. United States
128 Fed. Cl. 770 (Federal Claims, 2016)
Listwa v. United States
126 Fed. Cl. 565 (Federal Claims, 2016)
Ingham Regional Medical Center v. United States
126 Fed. Cl. 1 (Federal Claims, 2016)
Floyd v. United States
125 Fed. Cl. 183 (Federal Claims, 2016)
Mendiola v. United States
124 Fed. Cl. 684 (Federal Claims, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
109 Fed. Cl. 177, 43 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20021, 2013 U.S. Claims LEXIS 11, 2013 WL 308638, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westlands-water-district-v-united-states-uscfc-2013.