Clark County v. State

• Decision Date: 29 October 1948
• Docket Number: 3486.
• Citation: 199 P.2d 137,65 Nev. 490
• Parties: CLARK COUNTY v. STATE.
• Court: Nevada Supreme Court

199 P.2d 137

65 Nev. 490

CLARK COUNTY v. STATE.

No. 3486.

Supreme Court of Nevada

October 29, 1948

Appeal from First Judicial District Court, Ormsby County; Clark J Guild, Judge.

Action by the County of Clark against the State of Nevada for a declaration of the county's rights in certain sums of money paid by the United States to the State of Nevada under the Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act. From a judgment of dismissal, the plaintiff appeals.

Judgment affirmed.

Robert E. Jones, Dist. Atty., of Clark County, of Las Vegas, and Thatcher, Woodburn & Forman, of Reno, for appellant.

Alan Bible, Atty. Gen., W. T. Mathews, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., and George P. Annand and Homer Mooney, Deputy Attys. Gen., for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant County filed action against the State of Nevada on November 24, 1944 for a declaration of its rights in certain sums of money paid by the United States to the State of Nevada under the 'Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act' of the United States Congress approved July 19 1940, 43 U.S.C.A. § 618 et seq.

The allegations of the Complaint material to this appeal are as follows:

'I. The plaintiff, the County of Clark, is one of the counties of the State of Nevada, created and existing under and by virtue of an Act of the Legislature of the State of Nevada * * * That said County of Clark is a lawful taxing political subdivision of the State of Nevada.

'II. That this action is commenced and maintained by the County of Clerk pursuant to direction and lawful order of the County Commissioners of the County of Clark, and is commenced and maintained against the State of Nevada under and pursuant to an Act of the Legislature of the State of Nevada entitled 'An Act providing that this state may be sued by any county herein, in which a water storage and hydroelectric project owned by the United States is situated, for the purpose of determining whether or not such county is entitled to any part of money derived from said project and paid by the United States to this state pursuant to any Act of Congress, making an appropriation for the defense of any such suit, and other matters properly relating thereto,' approved March 24 1943.

'III. That the Colorado River is a large, natural, interstate stream having its principal headwaters in the state of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, and flowing in a general southwesterly direction through the states of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah and along a common boundary of the States of Arizona and Nevada and along a common boundary of Arizona and California, and thence through the Republic of Mexico and emptying into the Gulf of California; also one of the large tributaries of said Colorado River although having its headwaters in the State of Colorado flows through the State of New Mexico for a very considerable distance before its confluence with the Colorado River. That all of the Colorado River within the State of Nevada from the Arizona line on the north to the California line on the south is a navigable stream for the purpose of fixing ownership of the banks and bed thereof and that title to the land below the high water mark thereof is held by the State of Nevada insofar as they lie within said state. That all of the Colorado River within the State of Nevada lies and is situate in the County of Clark.

'IV. That said Colorado River, as it flows through the State of Nevada and Clark County, is a great, natural resource of inestimable value to the State and to said county; that as it flows through said State and County, it is bounded both upon the Nevada and Arizona sides by walls of great height and of such geological structure as made feasible the erection in and across said stream of a dam of great height at and in Black Canyon; that the topography of the county back of said dam and damsite at Black Canyon is such that tremendous quantities of water, exceeding 20,000,000 acre feet, can be and are backed up and stored in a great reservoir capable of providing storage water for the irrigation of approximately 100,000 acres of land in the State of Nevada, approximately 1,000,000 acres of land in the State of Arizona, and several times as much in the southern part of the State of California, and in addition thereto provide water for domestic and industrial purposes to the constantly and rapidly growing needs of the city and county of Los Angeles and the surrounding territory.

'The great height of the dam at Black Canyon, feasible because of the height of the canyon walls, the great volume of stored water created by the dam and the resultant fall of water have made possible the generation at Boulder Dam with the generating facilities heretofore installed of as much as six billion kilowatt hours of electric energy, during an annual period of operation, which electric energy to a very large extent, has been and is transmitted to the city and county of Los Angeles and Southern California area for domestic, industrial and municipal uses at very low costs. That all of these matters were known to the Secretary of the Interior and to Congress at the time of the selection of Black Canyon as a site for said dam and said site was so selected by the Secretary of the Interior and by Congress with the advice of the engineering staff of the Bureau of Reclamation, experienced in such matters.

'V. That thereafter and on December 21, 1928, the Congress of the United States for the purpose of controlling the floods, improving navigation, and regulating the flow of the Colorado River, providing for storage and for the delivery of stored water thereof, for the reclamation of public lands, and other beneficial uses exclusively within the United States, and for the generation of electric energy as a means of making the project authorized thereby, commonly known as the Boulder Canyon Project, self-supporting and financially solvent, and for various other purposes, enacted what is known as the 'Boulder Canyon Project Act', and therein and thereby provided for the construction of a dam in the Colorado River at Black Canyon in the State of Nevada and Arizona. * * *

'That said Act was subsequently amended by the adoption of an Act of Congress known as the 'Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act' approved July 19, 1940. That each and all of the conditions precedent to the taking effect of said 'Boulder Canyon Project Act' and said 'Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act' have occurred, and said Acts, including the retroactive provisions thereof, having been in full force and effect ever since June 1, 1937.

'VI. That in recognition of the great value of this natural resource to the State of Nevada and to Clark County, the Congress of the United States by the 'Boulder Canyon Project Act' enacted that 18-3/4% of certain excess revenue, as in said Act defined, should be paid to the State of Nevada, which provision was subsequently amended to provide that in lieu and in commutation of such percentage payment there should be paid to the State of Nevada annually the sum of $300,000., subject to certain conditions and provisions as hereinafter alleged; that in making provision for such payments to the State of Nevada, it was the intent of Congress that said payments were in lieu of taxes and to compensate the State of Nevada and its lawful taxing political subdivisions for loss in revenue which would be occasioned to the State and its lawful taxing political subdivisions by reason of the ownership of said project by the United States.

'VII. That in and by said Acts of Congress, the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to advance moneys to the 'Colorado River Dam Fund' to be repaid out of revenue, provided, however, that before any money be appropriated to the construction of the dam or power plant or any construction work done or contracted for the Secretary of the Interior should make provision for revenues by contract for the sale and delivery of electric energy or falling water for the generation of electric energy adequate in his judgment to insure the payment of all expenses of operation and the maintenance of said works incurred by the United States and the repayment within fifty years from the date of the completion of said works of all amounts advanced to the fund, with interest thereon, as made reimbursable under the provisions of said Act. That all of said conditions and duties so imposed upon the Secretary of the Interior have been performed.

'That in and by said 'Boulder Canyon Project Act', it was provided that if during the period of amortization of said advances, the Secretary of the Interior should receive revenue in excess of the amount necessary to meet the periodical payments to the United States, then after the settlement of such periodical payment he should pay to the State of Nevada 18-3/4% of such excess revenue.

'That subsequently and under and by virtue of the provisions of the 'Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act', the Secretary of the Interior was authorized and directed to promulgate charges for a basis of computation thereof for electric energy generated at the Boulder Dam during the period beginning June 1, 1937 and ending May 31, 1987, and from the funds so received, together with other net revenue from the project, after meeting certain charges and costs of operation and maintenance and repayment to the Treasury, with interest, of advances to the 'Colorado River Dam Fund' for the project made prior to June 1, 1937 and such portion of advances made on and after said June 1, 1937, to provide the sum of $600,000. for each of the years beginning with the year of operation commencing June 1, 1937 and ending May 31, 1938 and continuing annually thereafter until and including the year of operation ending May 31, 1987, of which

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