Sunnyside Valley Irr. Dist. v. Dickie

• Decision Date: 24 July 2003
• Docket Number: No. 72635-3.,72635-3.
• Citation: 149 Wash.2d 873,73 P.3d 369
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: SUNNYSIDE VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT, a quasi-municipal corporation, Respondent, v. Dyke DICKIE and Jane Doe Dickie, husband and wife, Petitioners.

73 P.3d 369

149 Wash.2d 873

SUNNYSIDE VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT, a quasi-municipal corporation, Respondent, v. Dyke DICKIE and Jane Doe Dickie, husband and wife, Petitioners.

No. 72635-3.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

Argued February 25, 2003.

Decided July 24, 2003.

John Strother Moore, Yakima, for petitioners.

Charles Camillus Flower, Patrick Michael Andreotti, Yakima, for respondent.

FAIRHURST, J.

Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District (SVID) maintains irrigation ditches, commonly referred to as laterals, in the Yakima County region. In general, adjacent landowners have granted express floating or roving easements to SVID to enter land adjacent to the laterals and remove any sediment and growth collected over time that obstructs the flow of water. This case involves easements for the Matheson 2.68 lateral (lateral). The issue is whether the parties intended widening of the easement to accommodate increased irrigation demands and the use of more efficient maintenance equipment. SVID contends the express terms of the easement permit widening and the original recording parties contemplated this widening. The current owners of the easement encumbered property, Dyke and Jane Doe Dickie (Dickie), dispute SVID's claim. We agree with SVID and affirm the Court of Appeals.

FACTS

Dickie owns two full tracts (Nos. 129 and 130) and part of a third tract (No. 131) of agricultural land in Yakima County across which the lateral flows. The lateral was originally constructed sometime between 1905 and 1923, and serves a total of 1,353 acres, 65 acres of which are located downstream from Dickie's property. The lateral is part of the Sunnyside Canal Division of the Yakima Reclamation Project.

Dickie's properties are subject to easements filed in 1908, 1912 and 1925, granting the holder the right to access land adjacent to the lateral to conduct maintenance. The 1925 easement grants the following:

Sixth: That the Purchaser ... agrees to grant ... the necessary right-of-way for the ... maintenance of all ... laterals ... of the United States of America, or said Irrigation Company ... with the right and permission to enter upon said land for the... enlargement and repair of said ...laterals, ... and to ... maintain and repair the same by the United States of America, or the Irrigation Company, or the owner or owners of lower lands.

Pl's Ex. 43 (emphasis added). Very similar language also appears in the 1908 and 1912 grants.

Initially, the United States maintained the lateral. In 1945, SVID assumed responsibility. SVID then delegated the responsibility to "maintenance districts" comprised of local landowners. In the late 1970s to early 1980s, SVID reassumed the maintenance responsibilities for several reasons including better quality of service, lack of interest from the individual landowners to continue performing the work, and increased costs and liability associated with maintenance.

Maintenance of the lateral is important because it removes sediments and ensures the flow of water at its capacity. At least early on, maintenance was accomplished by human labor, horses and slips (horse drawn scrapers). Over time, the use of power equipment replaced manual labor. Power equipment requires more operational space than the earlier methods.

SVID has used several types of power equipment to maintain the lateral. Initially, SVID maintained the lateral with a backhoe. The backhoe, while faster than manual labor, was still time consuming because the backhoe operator had to stop constantly to reposition the backhoe as it moved along the lateral.

In about 1988, SVID replaced the backhoe with a more efficient sloper machine (sloper). The sloper has a blade that extends down into the lateral and pulls sediment to the top of the lateral's bank. As the sediment is pulled to the top of the bank, another blade flattens the sediment out. The sediment is flattened, rather than kept in piles, to prevent the blocking of airflow through the farmlands. The track width (width at the base) of the sloper is approximately 8 ½ feet, not including the length of the extendable blade. The fully extended blade on the sloper is approximately 16 to 20 feet in length. The sloper is roughly five times as efficient as the backhoe. Unlike the backhoe, it does not require constant repositioning and it can clean several miles of the lateral in a day. In addition, the sloper is much better than the backhoe at maintaining constant slopes on the lateral walls. This is important to effectively collect sediments and maintain an even flow of water.

In conjunction with the backhoe and/or sloper, SVID has used mowers to cut down weeds and to repair leaks along the banks of the lateral during the irrigation season. The track width on the mower is approximately 8 feet, not including the length of the mower arm extension. The mower arm extension can extend down into the lateral along its sloped walls.¹

SVID requires about 20 feet from the lateral's center line to conduct its maintenance operations using power equipment. This 20 foot distance includes a 2 to 3 foot setback from the lateral's edge that is required to prevent the weight of the power equipment from collapsing the walls of the lateral and imperiling the power equipment operator.

The Roza Division is part of the Yakima Reclamation Project and irrigates agricultural property upstream from Dickie's land and drains into the lateral. Geological survey documents show that, as early as 1905, the United States planned development of the Roza Division. It was eventually constructed in the mid 1940s to the early 1950s. By design, a significant portion of the return flow from the Roza Division ends up in the lateral. The additional flow results in substantially more aquatic grass, weed growth and sediment in and around the lateral. Consequently, SVID has enlarged and flattened the slope on the lateral to accommodate the increased flow and to facilitate the increased maintenance.

On March 9, 2000, SVID initiated this lawsuit alleging that trees and sprinklers on Dickie's land interfered with its maintenance of the lateral. On the north side of the lateral, Dickie has old established cherry trees, newly planted cherry trees and sprinklers within 20 feet of the lateral's center line. Dickie planted the new cherry trees and installed the new sprinklers in 1998. Before that time, SVID could work more easily around obstructions on the land.

SVID contends that it requires 20 feet from the lateral's center line for maintenance, and the easements on Dickie's tracts allow for this expansion. Dickie argues that the easements do not allow expansion of the original widths used in the early 1900s when maintenance was conducted by manual labor.

The trial court ruled in favor of SVID and ordered Dickie to remove any trees and other property within 20 feet north of the lateral's center line. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Sunnyside Valley Irrigation Dist. v. Dickie, 111 Wash.App. 209, 43 P.3d 1277 (2002). We granted Dickie's petition for review. Sunnyside Valley Irrigation Dist. v. Dickie, 147 Wash.2d 1020, 60 P.3d 93 (2002).

ISSUE

Whether the easements on Dickie's tracts grant SVID the right to enlarge its right-of-way over time based upon future demands for irrigation and maintenance?

ANALYSIS

Findings of fact are reviewed under a substantial evidence standard, defined as a quantum of evidence sufficient to persuade a rational fair-minded person the premise is true. Wenatchee Sportsmen Ass'n v. Chelan County, 141 Wash.2d 169, 176, 4 P.3d 123 (2000). If the standard is satisfied, a reviewing court will not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court even though it may have resolved a factual dispute differently. Croton Chem. Corp. v. Birkenwald, Inc., 50 Wash.2d 684, 314 P.2d 622 (1957). Questions of law and conclusions of law are reviewed de novo. See Veach v. Culp, 92 Wash.2d 570, 573, 599 P.2d 526 (1979)

. The interpretation of an easement is a mixed question of law and fact. Id. What the original parties intended is a question of fact and the legal consequence of that intent is a question of law. Id.

The intent of the original parties to an easement is determined from the deed as a whole. Zobrist v. Culp, 95 Wash.2d 556, 560, 627 P.2d 1308 (1981). If the plain language is unambiguous, extrinsic evidence will not be considered. City of Seattle v. Nazarenus, 60 Wash.2d 657, 665, 374 P.2d 1014 (1962). If ambiguity exists, extrinsic evidence is allowed to show the intentions of the original parties, the circumstances of the property when the easement was conveyed, and the practical interpretation given the parties' prior conduct or admissions. Id.

An easement defined in general terms, without a definite location or description, is called a floating or roving easement (floating easement). See Berg v. Ting, 125 Wash.2d 544, 552, 886 P.2d 564 (1995)

. Generally, a floating easement becomes fixed after construction and cannot thereafter be changed. Rhoades v. Barnes, 54 Wash. 145, 149, 102 P. 884 (1909). If the floating easement has an undefined width, it is bounded by the doctrine of reasonable enjoyment. Everett Water Co. v. Powers, 37 Wash. 143, 152, 79 P. 617 (1905). Under the doctrine of reasonable enjoyment, the width is restricted to that which is reasonably necessary and convenient to effectuate the original purpose for granting the easement. Id.

The issue of whether the scope of an easement can change over time to accommodate anticipated, but not yet realized, future demands is a subject of first impression in Washington. Dickie argues that the width of the easement became fixed when the lateral was first constructed between 1905 and 1923, when the maintenance area was considerably smaller and the maintenance work was primarily done with manual labor. Dickie contends that allowing widening does not comport with Rhoades, which held that the size and location of a floating easement becomes fixed upon...