US v. Angle

• Decision Date: 21 March 1991
• Docket Number: No. Civ. S-80-583 LKK.,Civ. S-80-583 LKK.
• Citation: 760 F. Supp. 1366
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California
• Parties: The UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. H.C. ANGLE, et al., Defendants. The WACKERMAN DAIRY, INC., a California Corporation; Hollis E. Reimers, Plaintiffs, v. George G. WILSON, Angle Decree Water Master; The Orland Unit Water Users' Association, a California Corporation; The United States of America, Defendants.

760 F. Supp. 1366

The UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. H.C. ANGLE, et al., Defendants.

The WACKERMAN DAIRY, INC., a California Corporation; Hollis E. Reimers, Plaintiffs, v. George G. WILSON, Angle Decree Water Master; The Orland Unit Water Users' Association, a California Corporation; The United States of America, Defendants.

No. Civ. S-80-583 LKK.

United States District Court, E.D. California.

March 21, 1991.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Stuart L. Somach, McDonough, Holland & Allen, Sacramento, Cal., for plaintiffs.

Solomon E. Robinson, Asst. U.S. Atty., Sacramento, Cal., for the U.S.

M. Anthony Soares, Minasian, Minasian, Minasian, Spruance, Baber, Meith & Soares, Oroville, Cal., George G. Wilson, Water Master, Fair Oaks, Cal., for Orland Unit Water Users' Ass'n.

ORDER

KARLTON, Chief Judge Emeritus.

This matter is before the court on cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons I explain below, plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment is DENIED, the motion of defendant United States for summary judgment is GRANTED, and the motion of defendant Orland Unit Water Users' Association ("OUWUA") is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I BACKGROUND

The instant action arises out of a stream-wide adjudication of the rights, titles, and interests in the waters of Stony Creek and its tributaries. In an action commenced in 1918, the United States, as plaintiff, brought suit against several hundred defendants within the Stony Creek watershed, seeking a determination of the parties' water rights. The United States District Court, sitting in equity, issued its decision in 1930 in what is commonly referred to as the "Angle Decree."

Under Article XVI of the Angle Decree, a Water Master is appointed to carry out and enforce the provisions of the decree. Decree at 176. The Angle Decree provides that any person feeling aggrieved by any action of the Water Master may complain to this court and further provides for continuing jurisdiction to review the actions of the Water Master. Id. Plaintiffs in the instant action are successors in interest to defendants in the original action whose rights were adjudicated in the 1930 Decree. They allege that defendant Watermaster George Wilson has adopted new interpretations of plaintiffs' water rights that are erroneous and overly restrictive. Plaintiffs have brought suit against George Wilson, Watermaster appointed pursuant to the Angle Decree, the Orland Unit Water Users' Association (OUWUA)¹, and the United States², seeking declaratory and injunctive relief with regard to their irrigation and stock water rights under the Angle Decree. The parties have now cross-moved for summary judgment.

II SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARDS UNDER FED.R.CIV.P. 56

Summary judgment is appropriate when it is demonstrated that there exists no genuine issue as to any material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1608, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); Poller v. Columbia Broadcast System, 368 U.S. 464, 467, 82 S.Ct. 486, 488, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962); Jung v. FMC Corp., 755 F.2d 708, 710 (9th Cir. 1985); Loehr v. Ventura County Community College Dist., 743 F.2d 1310, 1313 (9th Cir.1984).

Under summary judgment practice, the moving party

Always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any," which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.

Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). "Where the nonmoving party will bear the burden of proof at trial on a dispositive issue, a summary judgment motion may properly be made in reliance solely on the `pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file.'" Id. Indeed, summary judgment should be entered, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. at 2552. "A complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party's case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial." Id. In such a circumstance, summary judgment should be granted, "so long as whatever is before the district court demonstrates that the standard for entry of summary judgment, as set forth in Rule 56(c), is satisfied." Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2553.

If the moving party meets its initial responsibility, the burden then shifts to the opposing party to establish that a genuine issue as to any material fact actually does exist. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1355-56, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); First Nat'l Bank of Arizona v. Cities Serv. Co., 391 U.S. 253, 288-89, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 1592-93, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968); Ruffin v. County of Los Angeles, 607 F.2d 1276, 1280 (9th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 951, 100 S.Ct. 1600, 63 L.Ed.2d 786 (1980).

In attempting to establish the existence of this factual dispute, the opposing party may not rely upon the denials of its pleadings, but is required to tender evidence of specific facts in the form of affidavits, and/or admissible discovery material, in support of its contention that the dispute exists. Rule 56(e); Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586 n. 11, 106 S.Ct. at 1355 n. 11; First Nat'l Bank, 391 U.S. at 289, 88 S.Ct. at 1592-93; Strong v. France, 474 F.2d 747, 749 (9th Cir.1973). The opposing party must demonstrate that the fact in contention is material, i.e., a fact that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law, Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); T.W. Elec. Serv., Inc. v. Pacific Elec. Contractors Ass'n, 809 F.2d 626, 630 (9th Cir.1987), and that the dispute is genuine, i.e., the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party, Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248-49, 106 S.Ct. at 2510-11; Wool v. Tandem Computers, Inc., 818 F.2d 1433, 1436 (9th Cir. 1987).

In the endeavor to establish the existence of a factual dispute, the opposing party need not establish a material issue of fact conclusively in its favor. It is sufficient that "the claimed factual dispute be shown to require a jury or judge to resolve the parties' differing versions of the truth at trial." First Nat'l Bank, 391 U.S. at 290, 88 S.Ct. at 1593; T.W. Elec. Serv., 809 F.2d at 631. Thus, the "purpose of summary judgment is to `pierce the pleadings and to assess the proof in order to see whether there is a genuine need for trial.'" Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. at 1356 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e) advisory committee's note on 1963 amendments); International Union of Bricklayers v. Martin Jaska, Inc., 752 F.2d 1401, 1405 (9th Cir. 1985).

In resolving the summary judgment motion, the court examines the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any. Rule 56(c); Poller, 368 U.S. at 468, 82 S.Ct. at 489; SEC v. Seaboard Corp., 677 F.2d 1301, 1305-06 (9th Cir.1982). The evidence of the opposing party is to be believed, Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. at 2513-14, and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the facts placed before the court must be drawn in favor of the opposing party, Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. at 1356 (citing United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962) (per curiam)); Abramson v. University of Hawaii, 594 F.2d 202, 208 (9th Cir.1979). Nevertheless, inferences are not drawn out of the air, and it is the opposing party's obligation to produce a factual predicate from which the inference may be drawn. Richards v. Nielsen Freight Lines, 602 F.Supp. 1224, 1244-45 (E.D.Cal.1985), aff'd, 810 F.2d 898, 902 (9th Cir.1987).

Finally, to demonstrate a genuine issue, the opposing party "must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.... Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no `genuine issue for trial.'" Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. at 1356 (citation omitted).

III STANDARDS OF CONSTRUCTION

The instant action arises out of a controversy over the proper interpretation of the provisions in the Angle Decree. The Decree incorporates stipulations entered into between the United States and the predecessors in interest of the plaintiffs at bar.³ Plaintiffs contend that because the Decree incorporates these stipulations, which by their terms are intended as "a settlement of the trial of all issues, as between the said plaintiff and defendants in relation to the agreement hereinafter named or otherwise," see Decree at 146, 149, the standards of construction applicable to a consent decree must govern in the matter at bar. Because a consent decree is in the nature of a contract, those standards require that a consent decree be construed essentially as a contract. See Jeff D. v. Andrus, 899 F.2d 753 (9th Cir.1989). As with a contract, the meaning of its provisions should be ascertained within the four corners of the decree. See United States v. Armour & Co., 402 U.S. 673, 682, 91 S.Ct. 1752, 1757-58, 29 L.Ed.2d 256 (1971). Where the meaning is ambiguous, however, resort to extrinsic aids of construction may be had. See United States v. ITT Continental Baking Co., 420 U.S. 223, 238 n. 11, 95 S.Ct. 926, 935 n. 11, 43 L.Ed.2d 148 (1975) (reliance on circumstances surrounding formation of consent decree, technical meaning of words used may have had to parties, and documents expressly...