Pasco Reclamation Co. v. Rankert

Citations

• 73 Wash. 363
• 131 P. 1143
• 1913 Wash. LEXIS 1607

Syllabus

<p>Waters and Water Courses — Charges for Water — Liability— Contract — Deed—Construction. An annual charge of $5 per acre entitling a grantee in a water deed to use 18 acre-inches of water, was intended as a maintenance charge, payment of which was not dependent on the use of the water, notwithstanding a stipulation that the grantee should pay “for the use of such water” and should, on or before the first of March, give notice of the quantity of water he wished to use during the ensuing irrigation season, where the initial contract required such annual payment to be made at stated times, regardless of the amount used, and gave a lien therefor, and provided that for water in excess of 18 acre-inches, the user should pay 35 cents per acre-inch additional.</p> <p>Same — Contract for Water — Performance — Construction — “Gravity” Plow. An iirigation company performed its contract to deliver water to such an elevation as to permit it to be conveyed to the highest point of defendant’s land by “gravity” flow, where, although the point of delivery was 14 feet lower than the highest point of defendant’s land, the pressure in the pipe was such as to elevate the water to the highest point by a pipe line without other aid than hydraulic pressure, and by the erection of a standpipe 16 feet high could be conveyed there by flumes; since the contract did not call for gravity flow “without confinement” or “by means of open ditches or flumes.”</p>