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Show Chapter 15 ADJUDICATION OF WATER RIGHTS IN WATERCOURSES INTRODUCTION Under the applicable laws in the Western States, rights to the use of water of watercourses may be adjudicated under one, or some variation, of two broadly classified procedures: (1) ordinary civil actions between claimants of water rights, and (2) special statutory adjudication procedures. Various aspects of ordinary civil suits between individuals have been discussed in chapter 13. There may be one plaintiff and one defendant, or there may be many parties. Whether the State in its governmental or proprietary capacity, or any of its agencies or officials, may participate in such proceedings depends upon the applicable laws and the circumstances of the case. Such participation often has been in cases in which the State's proprietary interests were involved. On a particular stream, many decrees may have been rendered in which one's claim of a water right may have been litigated and relitigated with respect to various other claimants. All of the Western States have special statutory adjudication procedures of one kind or another, several of which are discussed below. The purposes of a number of these procedures apparently have included, among other purposes, a desire to prevent a multiplicity of suits and to provide for more comprehensive adjudications of water rights. The ensuing discussion of statutory adjudication procedures is followed by some general procedural matters in water rights litigation. These include matters pertaining to ordinary civil actions or special statutory adjudication procedures, or both. SPECIAL STATUTORY ADJUDICATION PROCEDURES General Classification of Statutory Procedures Although water rights in many areas may be adjudicated in ordinary civil actions, statutory procedures of one kind or another are available in all Western States and are extensively utilized in some of them. These may include (1) special statutory proceedings for the adjudication or determination of water rights by a State agency or court, some principal variations of which include the Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, and Bien Code systems; and (2) statutory procedures under which State administrators participate in private suits, (444) |
