Archuleta v. Gomez

• Decision Date: 04 May 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04CA2231.,04CA2231.
• Citation: 140 P.3d 281
• Parties: Ralph L. ARCHULETA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Theodore GOMEZ, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Colorado Court of Appeals

140 P.3d 281

Ralph L. ARCHULETA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Theodore GOMEZ, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 04CA2231.

Colorado Court of Appeals, Div. II.

May 4, 2006.

Max I. Exline, Pueblo, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

MacDougall, Woldridge & Worley, P.C., Henry D. Worley, Colorado Springs, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellee.

CARPARELLI, J.

Plaintiff, Ralph L. Archuleta, appeals the district court's judgment dismissing his complaint to enjoin defendant, Theodore Gomez, from interfering with his water rights and for damages resulting from interference with those rights. Archuleta also appeals the district court's ruling that Gomez adversely possessed those water rights. We conclude that this dispute in part addresses the right to use water and to that extent it is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the water court. We affirm that portion of the judgment regarding Archuleta's claim for damages resulting from flooding and vacate the judgment in all other regards.

Archuleta and Gomez are record owners of fractional shares of water rights related to Manzanares Ditch No. 1, Manzanares Ditch No. 2, and Archuleta Ditch, which are on or adjacent to their properties in Huerfano County. Other fractional owners were not parties to the litigation. Neither party disputes the record ownership or the chain of title of the water rights.

I. Proceedings

Archuleta's complaint alleged that Gomez (1) had used more than the amount of water granted to him and, thereby, prevented water from reaching Archuleta's property; (2) had interfered with operation of headgates and improperly prevented water from flowing to Archuleta's land; (3) had filled in one of the ditches and, thereby, prevented water from flowing to Archuleta's land; and (4) had negligently flooded his own land with diverted water, stored it, and allowed it to flood Archuleta's land. Archuleta sought to enjoin Gomez from interfering with his water rights and to recover damages resulting from Gomez's diversion of his water, damages for the cost of repairing and replacing headgates, and exemplary damages.

In his answer, Gomez denied interfering with Archuleta's water and ditch rights and asserted defenses of laches, waiver, statute of limitations, and contributory negligence. Although Gomez was granted leave to file a counterclaim for adverse possession, he did not do so. However, Gomez later asked for partial summary judgment stating that Archuleta's claims regarding the Archuleta Ditch and related water rights were barred by the statute of limitations and that he, Gomez, adversely possessed those rights. The trial court denied Gomez's motion.

The trial management order stated that Gomez raised defenses of laches, waiver, statute of limitations, and contributory negligence and that he made no counterclaims.

After trial, the court concluded that Archuleta's claims regarding the Archuleta Ditch, Priority No. 30, were time barred and that, notwithstanding Archuleta's record interest in the Archuleta Ditch, Gomez used the water from the Archuleta Ditch and acquired Archuleta's rights by adverse possession. The court also concluded that Gomez's adverse possession barred Archuleta's claims for damages.

With regard to the Manzanares Ditch No. 1, Priority No. 26, the court concluded, among other things, that any damage was de minimis, that Archuleta failed to sustain his burden, and that his claim for damages was time barred.

As to the Manzanares Ditch No. 2, Priority No. 31, the court held, in the alternative, that Archuleta failed to prove damages or that his claims were time barred. It also held that Gomez and his predecessors had adversely possessed Archuleta's water rights to the exclusion of Archuleta and that the adverse possession barred Archuleta's damages claims.

Accordingly, the trial court dismissed Archuleta's claims with prejudice.

II. Jurisdiction

Although neither party questioned the jurisdiction of the district court or the jurisdiction of this court to hear this appeal, jurisdiction is an issue that we may raise and resolve sua sponte. People v. Severin, 122 P.3d 1073 (Colo.App.2005); see also Keith v. Kinney, 961 P.2d 516 (Colo.App.1997). Accordingly, we ordered the parties to submit supplemental briefs on the question of whether the water court has exclusive jurisdiction over this dispute.

Although Archuleta's suit sought to enforce his previously decreed water rights, Gomez's adverse possession defense asked the court to terminate Archuleta's rights and grant Gomez the right to use the water. We conclude that this issue is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the water court. In addition, although Gomez's defense of adverse possession of the ditches was within the jurisdiction of the district court, it was ancillary to the dispute regarding the use of the water and, thus, was an issue that could properly be resolved by the water court. Consequently, we conclude that the district court was without jurisdiction to terminate Archuleta's decreed water rights and to grant Archuleta's rights to Gomez, and that the court erred when it exercised its jurisdiction regarding the ditches in conjunction with the water rights dispute.

A. Court of Appeals

We have "initial jurisdiction over appeals from final judgments of the district courts." Section 13-4-102(1), C.R.S.2005. However, we do not have jurisdiction over "[w]ater cases involving priorities or adjudications." Section 13-4-102(1)(d), C.R.S.2005; City of Sterling v. Sterling Irrigation Co., 42 P.3d 72 (Colo.App.2002). Nonetheless, because the district court entered a final judgment in this matter, we have jurisdiction to review that judgment.

B. Water Court

A water right is the right to use water in accordance with its priority by reason of the appropriation of that water. Section 37-92-103(12), C.R.S.2005. The right to use water is governed by the doctrine of prior appropriation. The basic principle is that the one who first places the water to beneficial use has the first priority to use of the water, or, first in time, first in right. Coffin v. Left Hand Ditch Co., 6 Colo. 443 (1882).

Appropriation is the "application of a specified portion of the waters of the state to a beneficial use." Section 37-92-103(3)(a), C.R.S.2005.

A water court's adjudication quantifies an existing beneficial use of water and establishes a priority date for the water right. A water court's decree of water rights confirms pre-existing beneficial uses and serves as evidence of them. Humphrey v. Sw. Dev. Co., 734 P.2d 637 (Colo.1987).

Water courts have exclusive subject matter jurisdiction over "water matters." Section 37-92-203(1), C.R.S.2005. A water matter includes any determination regarding the right to use water, such as the quantification of a water right or a change in a previously decreed water right. Crystal Lakes Water & Sewer Ass'n v. Backlund, 908 P.2d 534 (Colo.1996). Actions to determine the legal right to use water are water matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the water courts. Humphrey v. Sw. Dev. Co., supra. See generally John Thorson et al., Dividing Western Waters: A Century of Adjudicating Rivers & Streams, 8 U. Denv. Water L.Rev. 355 (2005) (providing a comprehensive explanation and overview of the adjudication of the legal right to use water in Colorado and the western states).

However, once a water right has been decreed, that right is treated like a property right, and its ownership may be transferred like other real estate. Humphrey v. Sw. Dev. Co., supra (citing Cline v. Whitten, 144 Colo. 126, 355 P.2d 306 (1960)).

Determining what constitutes a water matter "turns on the distinction between the legal right to use of water (acquired by appropriation), and the ownership of a water right." Crystal Lakes Water & Sewer Ass'n v. Backlund, supra, 908 P.2d at 540 (quoting Humphrey v. Sw. Dev. Co., supra, 734 P.2d at 640). The water court also has jurisdiction over ancillary issues that directly impact water rights, such as private contractual agreements affecting the use of water rights. Crystal Lakes Water & Sewer Ass'n v. Backlund, supra; see also City of Sterling v. Sterling Irrigation Co., supra (concluding that if the construction of a private contractual agreement is necessary for a water right adjudication, then the water court retains ancillary jurisdiction over the contractual issue). However, a water court does not have jurisdiction "over real property issues only tangentially related to a water matter." Crystal Lakes Water & Sewer Ass'n v. Backlund, supra, 908 P.2d at 543 (citing FWS Land & Cattle Co. v. State, 795 P.2d 837, 841 (Colo.1990)).

In addition, "[t]he substance of the relief sought, rather than the form of the pleading, determines whether a particular action is a water matter." City of Sterling v. Sterling Irrigation Co., supra, 42 P.3d at 74.

Because the water court does not have exclusive jurisdiction to determine the ownership of a water right after it has been decreed, district courts may resolve such issues. Crystal Lakes Water & Sewer Ass'n v. Backlund, supra. For example, district courts may properly determine the ownership of previously decreed water rights in contexts such as the interpretation of deeds, chains of title, quiet title proceedings, real estate transfers, dissolution proceedings, and foreclosures. Humphrey v. Sw. Dev. Co., supra; Navajo Dev. Co. v. Sanderson, 655 P.2d 1374 (Colo.1982) (conveyance of water rights by warranty deed); Atchison v. City of Englewood, 193 Colo. 367, 568 P.2d 13 (1977)(conveyance of a ranch and water rights); Raber v. Lohr, 163 Colo. 485, 431 P.2d 770 (1967)(attempted conveyance by quitclaim deed); Gilpin Inv. Co. v. Perigo Mines Co., 161 Colo. 252, 421 P.2d 477 (1966) (determination of chain of title in a quiet title action); Thompson v. Blanchard, 116 Colo. 27, 178 P.2d 422 (1947)(chain of title establishing ownership); Farmer v. Farmer, 720 P.2d 174 (Colo.App.1986)(quiet title action between husband and wife...