California Court of Appeal

The trial court incorrectly interpreted a 1940 judgment and decree in an adjudication of the water rights on the Susan River stream system, and the judgment is therefore reversed and remanded, where: 1) the trial court erred in determining that paragraph 21 of the decree gives defendant a right to divert water from the Susan River for direct application to beneficial use that is measured by the capacity of defendant's three reservoirs (estimated at 31,500 acre-feet); 2) the proper interpretation is that the Susan River decree does give the defendant a right to divert water for direct application to beneficial use, but that right is provided in a different part of the decree and is measured in cubic feet per second not acre-feet; and 3) paragraph 21 of the decree dictates when that right of direct diversion and the right to store water can be exercised, but it does not establish a right to direct diversion itself.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/22/2013
• Published 05/22/2013

Judges

• ROBIE

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel