Longmire v. Smith

Citations

• 26 Wash. 439
• 58 L.R.A. 308
• 67 P. 246
• 1901 Wash. LEXIS 666

Syllabus

<p>WATER COURSES-PRIOR APPROPRIATION ■— VESTED RIGHTS-TO WHAT AREA APPLICABLE.</p> <p>Tlie prior appropriator of water upon public lands for the purposes of irrigation has a right thereto superior to all other claims, whether founded upon appropriation or riparian ownership, and under the statute of Washington Territory (Laws 1873, p. 520) recognizing such right and regulating the use of water in Yakima county, which provides that any person having title or possessing right to any agricultural lands in such county “shall be entitled to the use and enjoyment of the waters of the streams or creeks in said county for the purpose of making said land available for agricultural purposes to the full extent of the soil thereof,” such prior appropriator of waters in Yakima county holding a possessory right to a definite tract of agricultural land is entitled to water for the irrigation of the whole thereof as of the date of his original appropriation, when his use of the water for irrigation has been continuous and his extension of the area of cultivation has been made with reasonable diligence.</p> <p>SAME-MEASUREMENT OF WATER REQUIRED-INSUFFICIENCY OF PROOF-REMANDING FOE FURTHER PROOF.</p> <p>The fact that there is no clear and satisfactory proof, in an action for injunction against subsequent appropriators, showing the amount of water required by the prior appropriator thereof for irrigating arid lands for agricultural crops, would not deprive such appropriator of his full right to the waters to which he is entitled under his appropriation, but the matter can be properly remanded to the lower court in such a case for the purpose of adducing evidence upon which to base a decree for the quantity of water required.</p>