Barnaud v. Belle Fourche Irr. Dist.

• Decision Date: 03 May 2000
• Docket Number: No. 20909.,20909.
• Citation: 609 N.W.2d 779,2000 SD 57
• Parties: Laurie BARNAUD and Bernard Barnaud, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. BELLE FOURCHE IRRIGATION DISTRICT, Randy Oliver, Individually and as Manager of the Belle Fourche Irrigation District, and Gary Brunner, Darrel Cox, Steve Gatzke, Harlan Aplo, Art Persche, Robert Ruff, and Walter Stumpf, Individually and as the Board of Directors of the Belle Fourche Irrigation District, Defendants and Appellees.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

609 N.W.2d 779

2000 SD 57

Laurie BARNAUD and Bernard Barnaud, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. BELLE FOURCHE IRRIGATION DISTRICT, Randy Oliver, Individually and as Manager of the Belle Fourche Irrigation District, and Gary Brunner, Darrel Cox, Steve Gatzke, Harlan Aplo, Art Persche, Robert Ruff, and Walter Stumpf, Individually and as the Board of Directors of the Belle Fourche Irrigation District, Defendants and Appellees.

No. 20909.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Argued October 19, 1999.

Decided May 3, 2000.

Dorothy A. Dygas, Belle Fourche, Attorney for plaintiffs and appellants.

Paul S. Swedlund, Marty J. Jackley and G. Verne Goodsell of Gunderson, Palmer, Goodsell & Nelson, Rapid City, Attorneys for defendants and appellees.

AMUNDSON, Justice.

[¶ 1.] Laurie and Bernard Barnaud (Barnauds) appeal the granting of summary judgment in favor of Belle Fourche Irrigation District (District) and the denial by the trial court of Barnauds' motion to vacate the judgment. We affirm.

FACTS

[¶ 2.] The Canal Act of 1890 (Canal Act), 26 Stat. 391, 43 USC § 945, expressly reserved to the federal government an easement of right-of-way across all lands west of the 100th meridian. The 100th meridian runs in a north-south direction through South Dakota in the vicinities of Gettysburg, Presho, and Winner. Congress passed the Canal Act to allow construction of canals and ditches to provide irrigation to the arid western lands of South Dakota to encourage homesteading of those lands.

[¶ 3.] District was formed in 1904 as a private corporation known as Belle Fourche Valley Water Users' Association (Association). Association was formed to benefit landowners by delivering water through irrigation works constructed by the United States Department of the Interior pursuant to the Reclamation Act of 1902 (Reclamation Act). The construction began in 1905 under the U.S. Secretary of Interior acting by and through the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau). The construction consisted of miles of canals, ditches, drainage areas, the Orman Dam, and other irrigation equipment and structures. District, which was responsible for repayment of the construction costs, passed the repayment costs to the water users through the payment of fees.

[¶ 4.] Until 1949 the Bureau operated, maintained and rehabilitated the works it had constructed. In 1949 the Bureau entered into a contract with District, transferring to District the responsibility for and cost of operating and maintaining the irrigation system. After years of attempted repayments by District, the federal government and District entered into an amended repayment contract in 1984. The 1984 contract authorized District, on behalf of the federal government, to coordinate district improvement construction that would be paid for by the federal government. In addition, the contract transferred "all of the Belle Fourche Unit project works including the irrigation canals, laterals, drains, and appurtenant structures" to District. Under the contract, District was required, "without expense to the United States," to "care for, operate, and maintain the transferred works in full compliance with the contract." The contract specifically noted that title to the project facilities would remain in the name of the United States.

[¶ 5.] In the Spring of 1993, Barnauds purchased a parcel of land within the District. During 1993 District was involved in a federally funded irrigation district improvement project to increase the efficiency of District's irrigation ditches through the piping and infilling of ditches. In the course of its construction work, contractors hired by District dismantled 7/10 of a mile of fence on Barnauds' land to allow construction equipment passage upon the right-of-way and to access the ditch to construct improvements.

[¶ 6.] District had a policy which allowed construction workers to dismantle a fence by rolling up the wire and piling the posts in an area designated by the landowner. However, replacement of the fence was the responsibility of the landowner. The ditch project lasted from the Fall of 1993 to the Spring of 1994. During this time, Barnauds installed a temporary electric fence to contain their livestock. Two District employees assisted Barnauds in relocating approximately seventy steel fence posts to form a temporary fence line approximately 125 feet from the edge of the county road. The remainder of the fence was constructed at Barnauds' expense.

[¶ 7.] The added cost of building and maintaining an electric fence placed Barnauds in a cash-shortage position. Due to their cash shortage and possible inability to pay District's assessment for water delivered in 1995, Barnauds asked District to compensate them for removing their fence. When the pipe installation was completed, District refused to replace Barnauds' permanent fence that had been removed or provide compensation to them for removing their fence. Believing that they had to pay for their own fence replacement twice, once for installation of the pipe and another for the loss of productivity to their land, Barnauds brought an action against District in small claims court, which was later removed to circuit court by Barnauds.¹

[¶ 8.] The trial court granted summary judgment for District, finding that the fence was within the Canal Act right-of-way easement and District acted within its authority in removing the obstruction from the right-of-way. The trial court advised Barnauds that jurisdiction for any claim for compensation they sought would lie in federal district court. The court also granted District's motion to dismiss all named district board members in their individual capacity pursuant to SDCL 15-6-12(b)(5) based upon Barnauds' failure to state a claim against these individuals.

[¶ 9.] Barnauds appeal, raising the following issues:

1. Whether the circuit court erred in granting the district summary judgment and dismissing as to the individual defendants by reason of the grant of summary judgment.

2. Whether the circuit court erred further in denying Barnauds' motion to vacate the judgment.

DECISION

[¶ 10.] 1. Whether the circuit court erred in granting the District summary judgment and dismissing as to the individual defendants by reason of the grant of summary judgment.

a. Summary Judgment

[¶ 11.] In addressing a summary judgment motion, "[t]he moving party has the burden of proving that under the substantive law and the evidence presented there is no genuine issue of material fact." Nelson v. Belle Fourche Irrigation Dist., 539 N.W.2d 682, 683 (S.D.1995) (citing Tipton v. Town of Tabor, 538 N.W.2d 783, 785 (S.D.1995)). Our standard of review in a summary judgment case is well settled.

Summary judgment is authorized `if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admission on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.' SDCL 15-6-56(c). We will affirm only when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the legal questions have been correctly decided. All reasonable inferences drawn from the facts must be viewed in favor of the nonmoving party. The burden is on the moving party to clearly show an absence of any genuine issue of material fact and an entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.

Shevling v. Butte County Bd. of Comm'rs, 1999 SD 88, ¶ 13, 596 N.W.2d 728, 730 (quoting Estate of Shuck v. Perkins County, 1998 SD 32, ¶ 6, 577 N.W.2d 584, 586 (internal citations omitted)).

[¶ 12.] In the present case, there is no dispute that a Canal Act easement exists on Barnauds' land pursuant to an express reference to the Canal Act in Barnauds' original November 22, 1916, land patent.² Barnauds do dispute the extent of the easement and claim that they are entitled to just compensation for the removal of their fence and its relocation 125 feet from the ditch. It is well settled that the "Fifth Amendment provides that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation." United States v. 106.64 Acres of Land, Etc., State of Nebraska, 264 F.Supp. 199, 201 (D.Neb.1967). In 106.64 Acres of Land, the district court of Nebraska held that "[n]o constitutional right to just compensation arises when an easement is exercised pursuant to 43 USC[ ] § 945." Id. The only right to compensation is statutorily authorized by 43 USC § 945a. Id. This section, passed on October 4, 1966, states,

Notwithstanding the existence of any reservation of right-of-way to the United States for canals under section 945 of this title, or any State statute, the Secretary of Interior shall pay just compensation, including severance damages, to the owners of private land utilized for ditches and canals in connection with any reclamation project, or any unit or any division of a reclamation project, provided the construction of said ditches or canals commenced after January 1, 1961, and such compensation shall be paid notwithstanding the execution of any agreements or any judgments entered in any condemnation proceeding, prior to September 2, 1964.

43 USC § 945a (1986).

[¶ 13.] In lieu of § 945a, 43 USC § 945b must also be considered. Section 945b clearly and unambiguously states,

Jurisdiction of an action brought by the United States or the landowner for the determination of just compensation pursuant to section 945a of this title is hereby conferred on the United States district court in the district in which any such land is situated, without limitation to the amount of compensation sought by such suit.... (Emphasis added.)

The statute clearly states that an action by a landowner seeking "just compensation" under § 945a must be brought in United States District Court. Barnauds' claim for just compensation under § 945a would have to be brought in United States District Court of South Dakota. Considering § 945a and § 945b together, an action for just...