Opposition Brief — Phelps Dodge Dodge Corp. Corp. v. San Carlos Apache Apache Tribe (Nos. 06-333, 06-173)
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SRE Or THE CLERK
| SUPREME COURT, US.
In The
Supreme Court of the Anited States
+
PHELPS DODGE CORPORATION,
Conditional Cross-Petitioner,
vs.
SAN CARLOS APACHE TRIBE; STATE OF ARIZONA;
GILA RIVER INDIAN COMMUNITY; ASARCO LLC; SAN
CARLOS IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE DISTRICT;
CITY OF SAFFORD; GILA VALLEY IRRIGATION
DISTRICT; FRANKLIN IRRIGATION DISTRICT; SALT
RIVER PROJECT; CITY OF GOODYEAR; BHP COPPER
INCORPORATED; and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Cross-Respondents.
e _—
On Petition For Writ Of Certiorari
To The Arizona Supreme Couwst
¢
GILA RIVER INDIAN COMMUNITY’S
BRIEF IN OPPOSITION
+e
v
RODNEY B. LEWIS
Counsel of Record
JENNIFER K. GIFF
General Counsel
JOHN T. HESTAND
TIMOTHY L. PIERSON
RUTH E. KOESTER
Post Office Box 97
Sacaton, Arizona 85247
Telephone: (520) 562-9760
Attorneys for the Gila River
Indian Community
Ct ae ne a een
COCKLE LAW BRIEF PRINTING CO. (800) 225-6964
OR CALL COLLECT (402) 342-2831
QUESTION PRESENTED
Did the Arizona Supreme Court correctly determine that
the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree’ does not preclude the San
Carlos Apache Tribe from claiming the right to use water
from the tributaries of the mainstem of the Upper Gila
River because of res judicata?
* Consent Decree, United States v. Gila Valley Irrigation District
et al., June 29, 1935, Federal District Court in and for the District of
Arizona.
li
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page
SEPM DGPS BRMSEGEY 1 EOL? ccovesevevcesescesvescvocesconsesensevoseess i
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Ee BIE FAAS BETUIEGE FLERE coccoveesesvevcevevecovecesoueeveveveeseess iv
RES 1 8): Ec vili
eS 9s: 1
I. THE GLOBE EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE .......... 1
A. HISTORY OF WATER RIGHTS LITIGA-
eo 0 2S 0.8.) 1
B. THE UNITED STATES’ PURPOSE FOR
INITIATING THE GLOBE EQUITY LITI-
TIE adiliccubs puincsssinnsnwiveinbontecsoouetieeneien 2
C. THE COMPLAINT AND AMENDED
TT oi i ciissncinienosepsiehewesonlivneneaituenden 3
D. PRE-DECREE PROCEDUREG.................. 5
E. GLOBE EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE PRO-
TE Ais nidchirseenichivwniecesiversestveiieloieene 7
F. THE GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF THE
GLOBE EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE. ............ 11
BL THE ORR DITCH DECREE ......0cesceverevrecessossevee 11
A. PRE-DECREE PROCEDUREGS................... 11
B. ORR DITCH DECREE PROVISIONG........ 13
C. THE GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF THE
EPR MEE Gold BAMAANCIEED <ccxessecsevseonensvvevensceoses 14
lil. THE GENERAL ADJUDICATION OF ALL
| RIGHTS TO USE WATER IN THE GILA RIVER
i Ri 0, 14
I.
If.
Il.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS -— Continued
Page
REASONS FOR DENYING THE CONDITIONAL
Ce IS ES TSUN cecnsibincisatiniacinuseabhianianievonabenivesainia
THERE IS NO COMPELLING REASON TO
CRIA PEE Cee AP IIMEEE viscseveinisestssstnnselanevectonnvaies
THE ARIZONA SUPREME COURT COR-
RECTLY DETERMINED THAT THE GLOBE
EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE DOES NOT BAR
THE SAN CARLOS APACHE TRIBE FROM
CLAIMING THE RIGHT TO USE WATER
FROM THE TRIBUTARIES OF THE MAIN-
STEM OF THE UPPER GILA RIVER BE-
CAUSE OF RES JUDICATA ...........ccscsseesseeseeees
THE ARIZONA SUPREME COURT COR-
RECTLY DETERMINED THAT THE WNE-
VADA V. UNITED STATES EXCEPTION TO
THE MUTUALITY REQUIREMENT OF RES
JUDICATA DOES NOT CAUSE THE GLOBE
EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE TO BAR THE
RIGHT OF THE SAN CARLOS APACHE
TRIBE TO USE WATER FROM THE TRIBU-
TARIES OF THE MAINSTEM OF THE UP-
PER GILA RIVER ................ ibeslereneivonepervinnanite
THE ARIZONA SUPREME COURT COR-
RECTLY DECIDED THAT THE UNITED
STATES PROPERLY SPLIT ITS WATER
RIGHTS CLAIMS TO THE MAINSTEM OF
THE UPPER GILA RIVER AND THE TRIBU-
TARIES TO THE MAINSTEM MADE ON BE-
HAL#* OF THE SAN CARLOS APACHE INDIAN
RESERVATION IN THE GLOBE EQUITY NO.
BF FAC INED esinisnsinininsn scuviancionacushnsiipiicihenimiinbiigianmninns
a REET winivinesnctsiosnideninmanheiesesaicambbitnnbeiiaeeneiietels
15
15
17
19
1V
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Page
CASES
AFL-CIO, C.L.C. v. City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501,
106 S. Ct. 3063, 92 L. Ed. 2d 405 (1986) ...............e00000 18
Alaska Sport Fishing Association v. Exxon Corpora-
tion, 34 F.2d 769 (Oth Cir. 1994) ...........cccccccsecscrereereseeee 17
California v. Randtron, 284 F.3d 969 (9th Cir. 2002).....25, 27
Colorado River Water Conservation District ov.
United States, 424 U.S. 800, 96 S. Ct. 1236, 471
Bi EE © FFE Si ccaitccsacndohartinidddaduntiuebuiesunarbacicousnoieets 21
Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corporation, 496 U.S.
384, 110 S. Ct. 2447, 110 L. Ed. 2d 359.0... ee cenee 28
Dugan v. Rank, 372 U.S. 609, 83 S. Ct. 999, 10
Sigs Ie ee NU ieiiclentsidlin: Sched netasiinschadicohepheincaibiutiinasionabii 22
Gall v. South Branch National Bank of South
Dakota, 783 F.2d 125 (8th Cir. 1986).........ccccccccssrccessees 19
Gilbert v. Board of Medical Examiners, 155 Ariz.
169, 745 P.2d 617 (App. 1987).....c.csssssssssesssessesseeseesee 17
Hughes v. United States, 342 U.S. 353, 72 S. Ct.
i ee Rac Re Ge itis bac sciiciceccinittceateaninceinnapas 19
In re The General Adjudication of All Rights to Use
Water in the Gila River System and Source, 212
Ariz. 64, 127 P.3d 882 (2006) ................. 19, 24, 25, 28, 29
Jet, Inc. v. Sewage Aeration _— 223 F.3d 1360
ee I iekbiiacdasicecssilunidciiabinepnlitidaiiess sacuceacenteiens 28
Keith v. Volpe, 118 F.3d 1386 (9th Cir. 1997).................04. 19
Kittias Reclamation District v. Sunnyside Valley
Irrigation District, 763 F.2d 1032 (1985)............:eeccecee 22
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES -— Continued
Page
Local Number 93, International Association of Fire-
fighters, AFL-CIO, C.L.C. v. City of Cleveland,
478 U.S. 501, 106 S. Ct. 3063, 92 L. Ed. 2d 405
CPR cidasiedahiskiisiuieccoraves hpi maenaaa 18
Lorain NAACP v. Lorain Board of Education, 979
Fe SE TE iiiikirsssericaccaiidesisiestimiadtieeisninwiadeees 18
Mann v. Haigh, 120 F.3d 34 (4th Cir. 1997)... eee 28
May v. Parker-Abbott Transfer and Storage, Inc.,
$09 F.2d 1007 (10th Cir. 1900).....cccssccscccssossccsecsceceas 25, 27
Morgan v. Udy, 58 Idaho 670, 79 P.2d 295 (1938)............ 20
Mpoyo v. Litton Electro-Optical Systems, 430 F.3d
Be ee oe SP iecidndatiea hanes 17
Nevada v. United States, 463 U.S. 110, 103 S. Ct.
BOS, TF Lis, Bate ee CO IDES ces tcctcesscstontstsiasertaseess passim
Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 99 ‘
CG: GD, Gb T Tee. Be SES IG TO) cececoresissccsrscvervisrssers 17
People of the State of California v. United States,
235 ee Ee Ce Finite ciccachcserstcsteosetilatiinionions 23
PFS v. Industrial Commission of atic 191 Ariz.
EG ee Oe UI, BOT) iissircesiccalosentenFeticntdntcedoaaneias 17
Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, 349
U.S. 70, 75 S. Ct. 614, 99 L. Ed. 897 (1955) ...........000000 16
Richards v. Jefferson County, Alabama, 517 US.
793, 116S. Ct. 1761, 135 L. Ed. 2d 76 (1996)............... 17
Robinson v. American Car & Foundry Co., 135 F.
I CF atts sicsdenthccncdepecscrnceniiinch deitedctitabdiiaie 28
Santana v. City of Tulsa, 359 F.3d 1241 (10th Cir.
BD istesiccscdisin pilin dines cbeidecriviisemibeatianmaiebenincemsaniaa 28
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES - Continued
Page
Scoggin v. Schrunk, 522 F.2d 436 (9th Cir. 1975)............ 25
Simmons v. New Public School District No. 8, 251
ee Re I GE BI iccenissemrecnctecrcnssemsniovesentieneesh 25, 26
State of California v. Rank, 293 F.2d 340 (1961).............. 22
State of Washington Department of Ecology v. Grimes,
121 Wash. 2d 459, 852 P.2d 1044 (1993)... eee 22
United States v. District Court in and for Eagle
County, Colorado, 401 U.S. 520, $1 S. Ct. 998, 28
Ss TUE DE OEY ED csatinesitvciesccsittieirendnaeiipimaaacaaeasvininedss 14
United States v. Gila Valley Irrigation District, 454
F.2d 219 (Sth Cir. 1972)......ccccccc0se000s siisindaaiisuiaiedaslacibsbiavioseaine 18
United States v. Gila Valley Irrigation District, 31
ee ee CIE Gait PEP Pcie scusicecousnsenosansinpiieestuaisdancciitnn 18
United States v. Skokomish Indian Tribe, 764 F.2d
PR EEIIEE, SETI sécccisuscackisdomacnnsscaaanecemnmbibehdicalieeiii 25, 26
United States v. Ward Baking Co., 376 U.S. 327, 84
S. Ct. TES, 13 Le, Bid. Bd TES (1GSO)....ccccvevevovsevcesscesseeseves 18
STATUTORY PROVISIONS
FEDERAL
43 Stat. 475-76 San Carlos Project Act [Pub. L. No.
SE SE _— RBRESE SIN ReeneSnene SRna mes Pre SEN 2
Sk 5 oak ER SRERR DRE NEI Senn een aae ne muraneaR ee te melee ON 14
STATE
II ON. i iackscaniesticsrinscinnseneeeheomaseimneiniomsiceniicts 14
Poe 2” Rae ene a ome 15, 23
Vii
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES — Continued
Page
OTHER MATERIAL
Globe Equity No. 59 Decree Consent Decree, United
States v. Gila Valley Irrigation District et al.,
June 29, 1935, Federal District Court in and for
Se SITIO FR accievccncvteciasesnncectcninntctisnvnntainn passim
a ccittiineniccinticnstinsthceneinipenpnidinibaipindinainies passim
Truckee River Agreement ..............cccscseseessesseeeceeeeeceees 12, 13
United States v. Truckee-Carson Irrigation District,
U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada,
Findings of Fact, December 8, 1977 ................:ceeeeeeeeees 12
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Appendix 6
Appendix 7
Appendix 8
Appendix 9
Appendix 10
Appendix 11
Appendix 12
Appendix 13
Appendix 14
Vill
TABLE OF APPENDICES
Globe Equity 59 Decree .......ccccccsseesceeees App. 1
COP EDO BIOIP OG ccsisscantusieniziotserensouinns App. 55
Truckee River Agreement Sesihbtamedidi App. 130
Memorandum of May 24, 1934 from
G. A. Iverson to a Mr. Blair.............. App. 199
August 4, 1926 letter from John
Truesdell, Superintendent of Irrigation
to Mr. Edward Smith, Special Assis-
tant to the Attorney General............. App. 222
September 23, 1926 letter to Mr.
BIS DIG victccnseseccsrecvisnthertedennens App. 228
Letter of October 20, 1926 from Edward
Smith to the Attorney General............. App. 230
Brief of the United States submitted
in Globe Equity No. 59 on December
© FEF icdissnccooerseontiansssmennadenian App. 238
Motion to Dismiss Certain
SON ss sssisaincasidstahisiakenpnoninieniaies App. 241
June 27, 1932 Memorandum by
CF Be cccsccciccssstesaetecseioninnans App. 242
December 29, 1931 letter from John
Truesdell! to John Ross..............00000+ App. 255
March 26, 1934 Memorandum from
John Truesdell to the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs and the Solicitor of
the Interior Department.................. App. 258
March 30, 1935 Motion to Dismiss
Certain Defendants................::000000+ App. 270
March 30, 1935 Order Dismissing
Certain Defendants..............:c0:c00seeee App. 275
STATEMENT OF FACTS
I. THE GLOBE EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE
A. HISTORY OF WATER RIGHTS LITIGATION
IN ARIZONA
During the nineteenth century and through the
middle of the twentieth century, Arizona was a substan-
tially rural state. The lands in Arizona are largely arid or
semi-arid. Early Euro-American settlers wanted to use the
limited water supplies for irrigation, mining, and domestic
purposes. But, as Mark Twain observed, “Whisky is for
drinkin’, water is for fightin’.” Early water users in Arizona
did most of their fighting in a series of small, localized court
cases. These cases adjudicated the water rights of a limited
number of participants to the use of water from a limited
geographic stretch of the Gila River System.
Prior to 1974, with the initiation of what would
eventually become the General Adjudication of All Rights
to Use Water in the Gila River System and Source, the
water users and the courts had little ability and less
inclination to deal with complex, geographically expansive
water rights litigations. The following decrees and deci-
sions, involving small portions of the Gila River water-
shed, were entered by Arizona courts in multiple counties
prior to 1974: the Kent Decree, the Haggard Decree, the
Benson-Allison Decree, the Ling Decree, the Lockwood
Decree, the Doan Decree, the Jenkes Decree, the Shute
Decree, the San Pedro Decision, Clifford v. Larrieu, Hill v.
Lenerman, Gila Bend Reservoir & Irrigation Co. v. Peoria
Canal Co., Gila Land & Cattle Co. v. Gila Water Co.,
Arlington Canal Co. v. Simpson, Gillespie Land & Irriga-
tion Co. v. Simpson, Gila Land & Cattle Co. v. Gila Water
Co., Dyke v. Caldwell, Miller v. Douglas, Boquillas Land
and Cattle Company v. St. David Cooperative Comm. and
Dev. Association, Wolf v. Turner, Pyeatt v. Huachuca Queen
Mining Company, Salt River Valley Water Users Associa-
tion v. Lee, Lee and Lee, Clarkson and Clarkson v. Wilcox
and the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree.
vicmeuertepeamememmnagmmamme titiatadaeneetae trees hedaman
AA et eee ee a ee |
2
B. THE UNITED STATES’ PURPOSE FOR
INITIATING THE GLOBE EQUITY LITIGA-
TION
Prior to the arrival of Euro-Americans, the Akimel
O’odham (the River People) and the Peeposh (the People),
also known as the Pima and Maricopa Indians, had an
economic, political, and military confederation the aborigi-
nal territory of which included all of the lands and waters
in what is now central Arizona. The Pima and Maricopa
Indians were prosperous and healthy. Then Euro-
American latecomers moved upstream from the Pima-
Maricopa lands and diverted the waters of the Gila and
Salt Rivers away — often running the waters into the
desert rather than allowing the waters to flow back into
the riverbeds and make their way to the Pima-Maricopa
lands. The Pima and Maricopa Indians were reduced to
poverty, starvation, and endemic diabetes.
The Pima-Maricopa Confederation had allied with the
United States Army in the 1850s through 1880s to protect
Euro-American settlers from hostile Indian tribes. Despite
this loyalty, the United States failed to protect Pima-
Maricopa water rights. In 1924, the United State Congress
made an effort to partially remedy this serious wrong
through passage of the San Carlos Project Act [Pub. L. No.
68-210, 43 Stat. 475-76, June 7, 1924].° The Act authorized
the construction of Coolidge Dam and water delivery
systems to provide water to approximately 50,000 acres of
Pima land within the boundaries of the Gila River Indian
Reservation. The Act also authorized the participation of
certain non-Indians to the extent of 50,000 acres. These
non-Indian landowners are participants in the San Carlos
Irrigation and Drainage District (SCIDD). The United
* “This measure is primarily for the restoration to the Pima
Indians of their water rights along the Gila River, which have been
gradually taken away from them by the white settlers above them
appropriating the waters of the river.” Senate Report #129, 6th
Congress, Ist Session, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, February 7,
1924.
3
States initiated the Globe Equity litigation in 1925 to
secure a reliable water supply for the 50,000 acres of Pima
land and 50,000 acres of non-Indian land within the San
Carlos Indian Irrigation Project (SCIIP).
C. THE COMPLAINT AND AMENDED COM-
PLAINT
The initial complaint in the Globe Equity litigation
was filed on October 2, 1925. The initial complaint did
seem to indicate an intent to seek to quantify the water
rights of the mainstem of the Upper Gila River and its
tributaries. On May 24, 1934, G. A. Iverson (Special
Assistant to the Attorney General) wrote a memorandum’
to a Mr. Blair explaining the situation that led to filing an
original complaint that was too broad. At page 2, he wrote:
The original] Bill of Complaint shows evidence of
having been prepared hastily and without proper
consideration either as to geographical areas or
with any purpose of descriminating [sic] between
rights of recognized standing and those appar-
ently in conflict with the interests of the Gov-
ernment.
Beginning in 1926, the federal government questioned
having the tributaries included in the Globe Equity litiga-
tion.’ On December 5, 1927, the United States filed an
amended complaint. See Appendix 2 of Phelps Dodge’s
Petition for Writ of Certiorari. At paragraphs 13(e) and (f)
and 14(a), (b) and (c) the amended complaint sought the
right to use “waters of the Gila River.” Paragraph 15 of the
amended complaint stated that each of the defendants
* Memorandum of May 24, 1934, from G. A. Iverson to Mr. Blair,
pages 1, 2, 3, 4 and 18 (Appendix 4)
* See August 4, 1926, letter from John Truesdell (Superintendent of
Irrigation) to Mr. Edward Smith (Special Assistant to the Attorney
General) (Appendix 5); September 23, 1926, letter to Mr. Edward Smith
(Appendix 6); Letter of October 20, 1926, from Edward Smith to the
Attorney General (Appendix 7)
4
[cjlaims some right to divert water from the Gila
River as it flows between a line 10 miles east of
the parallel to the dividing line between Arizona
and New Mexico, and the confluence of the Salt
River with the Gila River, and after the following
tributaries of the Gila River, the San Francisco
River, and the San Carlos River, the San Pedro
River, and the Santa Cruz River, respectively,
have joined, the main stream, and all but a few
of said diversions being in the District of Arizona;
or the said defendants claim some right to store
the water of said river, or of some tributary
thereof, either within or above the stretch of the
same as just described. [Emphasis added.]
Phelps Dodge Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Appendix 2.
On December 6, 1927, the day after filing the
amended complaint, the United States filed a brief’ to the
Globe Equity Court defining the limited nature and scope
of the adjudication:
This suit is one to adjudicate water rights within
a specified area of the Gila River. That area is de-
fined in the complaint and roughly embodies the
stretch of the river extending from the lower or
western end of the Gila River Indian Reserva-
tion, up that stream, to a line parallel with the
boundary between the States of Arizona and New
Mexico, but 10 miles east thereof. The idea is to
settle rights of diversion along this stretch of the
stream, excluding, however, rights to divert water
of the tributaries — the Salt, which flows into the
Gila on the western edge of the Gila River Reser-
vation; the Santa Cruz, which reaches the Gila
on the Reservation west of Florence; the San
Pedro, which comes into the Gila above the
Ashurst-Hayden diversion dam, some 10 miles
upstream from Florence; the San Carlos, ...
comes into the Gila on the north within the site
. the Coolidge reservoir; the San Francisco,
* Appendix 8
5
which joins ... also from the north above the
Solmonville-Safford ... below the Duncan Valley;
the San Simone [sic], which is an extremely
flashy wash stream and comes into the Gila from
the south below the Duncan Valley, and all parts
of the Gila River proper above the line mentioned
as being some 10 miles within the State of New
Mexico. [Emphasis added.]
D. PRE-DECREE PROCEDURES
Even before filing the amended complaint, which
clarified the limited geographic scope of the Globe Equity
litigation by excluding the tributaries, the United States
planned for and executed the dismissal of parties who only
diverted water from the tributaries of the mainstem of the
Upper Gila River On April 14, 1927, Edward Smith
(Special Assistant to the Attorney General) filed a motion
to dismiss certain defendants “without prejudice and
without cost ... for the reason that the said Bosquillas
Land and Cattle Company and the San Pedro Water Users’
Association are not necessary parties to the action.”
The attorneys for the United States kept working to
correct the problems that arose from the inadvertent
presence in the Globe Equity litigation of parties who only
diverted water from the tributaries and were, therefore,
outside the limited scope of the lawsuit. In 1932, Mr.
Morton (attorney for the United States) authored a memo-
randum in which he wrote:
It was conceived that the settlement, if effective
and adequate, would involve a definition and de-
termination of all existing rights in the Gila
River within the scope of the suit, and the elimi-
nation of all parties who did not belong in the
* Appendix 9
6
suit but happened to be there by reason of mis-
takes, inadvertencies or the like which occurred
before our advent. [Emphasis added.]'
On December 29, 1931, John Truesdell (an attorney
and engineer who worked on both the Globe Equity No. 59
Decree and the Orr Ditch Decree) wrote to the attorney for
Phelps Dodge Corporation and the Arizona Copper Com-
pany. He wrote:
The geographical limits of the suit were set on
the east with the idea that a line drawn from
north to south ten miles east of the boundary be-
tween New Mexico and Arizona and excluding
the tributaries, would include all of the diver-
sions from the stream which ought to be covered
by a suit of the sort the Government had in
mind. It was considered, when the suit was
brought, that diversions from the tributaries and
from the main stream above the point indicated
were not of such a character as to necessitate
their determination. It was thought also that
they might not have to be fixed or interfered with
at all; and that in all events their handling
should be left to the future.”
He continued:
Your clients and others who divert from the
tributaries or otherwise outside the area meant to
be covered by the suit, were made defendants
through inadvertence. It is our view, as we have
already explained in conversation, that from our
standpoint, and we think also from your own,
they should be dismissed from the suit, and of
course without prejudice. [Emphasis added.]’
On March 26, 1934, Mr. Truesdell drafted a memo-
randum for the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the
" Appendix 10
* Appendix 11, page 1
* Appendix 11, pages 1 and 2
7
Solicitor of the Interior Department.” At page 1, he wrote:
“In trying to settle this suit through the entry of a consent
decree it may be necessary to ask the court to dispose of
the case, through dismissals without prejudice or by some
other means, as to certain parties who will not join in the
general consent.”
Beginning in late 1934, the United States requested
and the Court ordered that water users on all tributaries
to the mainstem of the Gila River be dismissed as being
“outside the scope of said suit.” All of the dismissals were
without prejudice." On March 30, 1935, Phelps Dodge
Corporation entered into a stipulation with the United
States, which was approved by the Court, whereby Phelps
Dodge was dismissed from the Globe Equity litigation,
without prejudice, because the Phelps Dodge interests
were “outside the territorial scope of the suit as it was and
is defined in the Amended Complaint” and because the
dismissed defendants were included in the action “through
inadvertence and mistake.” Globe Equity No. 59 Decree,
Article III, pages 8-9.
E. GLOBE EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE PROVI-
SIONS
The provisions and language of the Globe Equity No.
59 Decree (Appendix 1) explicitly established that the
Decree dealt only with quantifying the water rights of
specific parties, as against each other, to use water from
the mainstem of the Upper Gila River. The Globe Equity
No. 59 Decree unequivocally confirmed that it did not deal
with rights to use water from any of the tributaries to the
mainstem of the Upper Gila River; and that it did not, in
any way, grant or restrict the right of any party (whether
to the Decree or not) to use the waters of those tributaries.
’° Appendix 12
" March 30, 1935, Motion to Dismiss (Appendix 13), March 30,
1935, Order Dismissing Certain Defendants (Appendix 14)
8
The preamble to the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree
unambiguously affirmed that the Decree’s scope was
strictly limited to those parties whose claims were still
subject to determination, after all the dismissals without
prejudice had occurred.
That the plaintiff and the parties defendant
whose claims and rights have been presented by
answer or stipulation and remain for determina-
tion herein, have concluded and settled all issues
in this cause as between plaintiff and said par-
ties defendant, and as between said defendants
and each of them and every other thereof, and
mutually have agreed —- *** that such settle-
ment should be embodied in and confirmed and
made effective by way of the within decree of the
Court in this cause defining and adjudicating
their claims and rights as against each other in
identical form and substance as hereinafter set
forth:... -
The Globe Equity No. 59 Decree incorporated all or
part of four smaller, older, localized decrees with even
more limited geographic scope. The Lockwood Decree
quantified water rights for the non-Indian lands that
eventually became the San Carlos Irrigation and Drainage
District, which is a component part of the San Carlos
Indian Irrigation Project. Its table of rights and priorities
was incorporated into the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree. The
Doan and Jenkes Decrees quantified the water rights of
lands diverting from the mainstem of the Upper Gila River
above the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, and
their tables of rights and priorities were also integrated
into the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree.
The Ling Decree quantified the water rights of lands
diverting from both the mainstem of the Upper Gila River,
above the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, and
from tributaries of the mainstem of the Upper Gila River.
The portions of the tables of rights and priorities from the
Ling Decree that dealt with rights to divert from the
mainstem of the Upper Gila River were incorporated into
the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree. The portions of the tables
9
of rights and priorities dealing with rights to divert from
the tributaries were not included in the Globe Equity No.
59 Decree and must be enforced separately.
Articles I and III of the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree
contain extensive lists of tributary water users who were
dismissed from the litigation, without prejudice, including
Phelps Dodge Corporation.” The Globe Equity No. 59
“ «That by the orders of this Court dated January 22, 1929, and
March 11, 1930, this suit and the amended complaint herein, upon the
motion of plaintiff, were dismissed as to defendants:
[names omitted]
it having been found and determined by the Court in that relation that
they and each of them were not proper or necessary parties defendant in
this cause; which said action of the Court in these premises hereby
confirmed.” [Emphasis added.] Globe Equity No. 59 Decree, Article I,
page 6.
“That, upon the motion of the plaintiff, by Order of this Court dated
March 30, 1935, this suit and the amended complaint herein were
dismissed without prejudice as to the following defendants, to-wit:
Phelps Dodge Corporation, Arizona Copper Company;
lother names omitted].
Said action was had and taken in pursuance of those certain five
stipulations between the plaintiff and the defendants above named
through their solicitors of record, on file herein, wherein and wherefrom
it appeared that said defendants and each of them had been named in
this action and amended cemplaint, as parties defendant herein,
through and by inadvertence, mistake and error, and that their claims
and rights, if any, were aid are outside the scope of said suit as same
was and is outlined and; defined in the amended complaint herein, and
that they and each of them should be dismissed and eliminated from
said cause, although some of them had filed their answers setting up
their claims and rights to the use of certain waters from some of the
tributaries of the Gila River, and said answers were filed through
mistake and a misunderstanding as to the scope of said cause as
outlined and defined in plaintiff’s said amended complaint. Jt was
agreed in said stipulations that the dismissal of said defendants should
be accomplished upon motion of the plaintiff and Order of this Court as
aforesaid, and that said Order should provide as in fact it dees, as made
and entered, of record herein that: said action and dismissal should be
without prejudice to said defendants and each of them and/or to any of
the other parties in this cause, or to any claim or rights to the use of
water which said defendants, or any of them, or said other parties or
(Continued on following page)
10
Decree, as consented to by the parties and adopted by the
court, did not quantify a single water right to any tribu-
tary of the mainstem of the Upper Gila River. The Decree’s
schedule of rights and priorities lists only diversions from
the mainstem of the Upper Gila River. Article V of the
Globe Equity No. 59 Decree specifies “that the Gila River is
the stream from which the water called for under each of
said rights is and may be diverted.”
Article XIII makes it clear that the Decree does not
give rights or protections to non-parties to the Decree. The
parties to the Decree agreed that they would not use the
waters of the mainstem of the Gila River in a way that
interfered with the prior rights (as established in the
Decree) of other parties to the Decree.
That each and all of the parties to whom rights
to water are decreed in this cause (and the
persons, estates, interests and ownerships repre-
sented by such thereof as are sued in a representa-
tive capacity herein), their assigns and successors
in interest, servants, agents, attorneys and all per-
sons claiming by, through or under them and their
any of them, now or hereafter may have, against the other or others,
and that said defendants, and each of them, should be left as though
they never had been named or made parties defendant herein; which
said action heretofore taken by the Court in the premises, is hereby
confirmed, and the provisions herein recited in reference thereto are
made a part of this decree to protect their rights in that respect.”
{Emphasis added.] Globe Equity No. 59 Decree, Article Ill, pages 8-9.
“That, upon motion of the plaintiff, by Order of this Court dated March
30, 1935, this suit and the amended complaint were dismissed, without
prejudice, as to the following named defendants, to-wit:
{names omitted]
said action having been taken, because it appeared from said motion on
file herein and the records; that said defendants and each of them were
brought into the action by. inadvertence and mistake and each was and
is not a necessary party to this action, for the reason that they have no
interests or that they are outside the scope of the suit as defined in the
amended complaint herein. The action taken heretofore in these
premises is hereby confirmed.” [Emphasis added.} Globe Equity No. 59
Decree, Article III, page 10.
11
successors, are hereby forever enjoined and re-
strained from asserting or claiming — as against
any of the parties herein, their assigns or succes-
sors, or their rights as decreed herein — any
right, title or interest in or to the waters of the
Gila River, or any thereof, except the rights
specified, determined and allowed by this decree,
and each and all thereof are hereby perpetually
restrained and enjoined from diverting, taking or
interfering in any way with the waters of the
Gila River or any part thereof, so as in any man-
ner to prevent or interfere with the diversion, use
or enjoyment of said waters of the Gila River or
any part thereof, so as in any manner to prevent
or interfere with the diversion, use or enjoyment
of said waters by the owners of prior or superior
rights therein as defined and established by this
Decree;....
F. THE GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF THE GLOBE
EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE
The Globe Equity No. 59 Decree quantifies the rights
of owners of approximately 140,000 acres of land to divert
water from the mainstem of the Upper Gila River. It does
not quantify the right of any party to divert water from
any other source for use on any other land. The Gila River
System and Source encompasses approximately 57,580
square miles or 36,851,200 acres of land. The Globe Equity
No. 59 Decree quantifies the water rights of less than four-
tenths of one percent of the lands within the Gila River
System and Source. Put another way, the Globe Equity No.
59 Decree does not quantify the water rights of over
36,500,000 acres of land in the Gila River System and
Source.
II. THE ORR DITCH DECREE
A. PRE-DECREE PROCEDURES
On March 13, 1913, the United States commenced a
quite title action involving the waters of the Truckee River.
12
On July 25, 1914, the United States amended the original
complaint, adding new parties and expanding the com-
plaint to include the Truckee River “and its tributaries.””
“Orr Ditch was intended by all concerned lawyers, liti-
gants and judges, as a general all inclusive water adjudi-
cation suit which sought to adjudicate all rights and
claims in and to the waters of the Truckee River and its
tributaries.”
The Orr Ditch Decree was approved by the United
States District Court on September 8, 1944. Prior to entry
of the Orr Ditch Decree, many of the parties to the litiga-
tion entered into the Truckee River Agreement (Appendix
3) in anticipation of eventual entry of the Orr Ditch
Decree. That agreement stated:
WHEREAS, the parties hereto (other than the
Conservation District) are users and/or diverters
of water flowing from Lake Tahoe and/or in the
Truckee River and its tributaries in the State of
Nevada...
WHEREAS, it is necessary for the accomplish-
ment of the foregoing objects that additional fa-
cilities for the storage of the waters of the
Truckee River and its tributaries be constructed
WHEREAS, the United States heretofore filed a
suit ... for the purpose of obtaining an adjudica-
tion of the rights of uses in the State of Nevada
to the waters of the Truckee River and its tribu-
taries in the State of Nevada...
WHEREAS, the Conservation District was or-
ganized for the purpose (among others) of captur-
ing, storing and conserving water of the Truckee
River and its tributaries...
" Findings of Fact, U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada,
United States v. Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, December 8, 1977,
Fact 7
" Ibid., Fact 8
13
WHEREAS, the Power Company is the owner of
certain rights in and to waters of Lake Tahoe and
the Truckee River and its tributaries ...
WHEREAS, the parties of the fifth part, herein
or their predecessors in interest are defendants
in said Truckee River Adjudication Suit and are
owners of rights in and to waters of the Truckee
River and its tributaries .. .
WHEREAS, the carrying out of the provisions of
this agreement will assist in conserving the wa-
ters of said Lake and River and its tributaries .. .
[Emphasis added.] Truckee River Agreement, page 1.
B. ORR DITCH DECREE PROVISIONS
The Orr Ditch Decree (Appendix 2) was a comprehen-
sive water rights adjudication of the entire Truckee River
System and Source and involved all; or virtually all, of the
users of any water to the Truckee River or any of its
tributaries. It was in the nature of a general adjudication.
In its preamble, the Orr Ditch Decree adjudicated the
right “to divert and use, from the Truckee River and its
tributaries and from the streams, springs, drain and waste
water hereinafter mentioned.” [Emphasis added.] At page
12, in the Irrigation Rights Section, the Orr Ditch Decree
confirmed that the “parties ... have acquired rights of
appropriation in, and have diverted and appropriated from
the Truckee River and its tributaries.” [Emphasis added.]
At page 87, the Orr Ditch Decree contains an injunc-
tive provision prohibiting the parties and their successors
“from asserting or claiming any rights in or to the waters
of the Truckee River or its tributaries or tne waters of any
of the creeks or streams or other waters hereinbefore
mentioned.” [Emphasis added.] That provision reiterates
that “said parties ... and all persons claiming by through
or under them, are hereby perpetually restrained and
enjoined from diverting, taking or interfering in any way
with the waters of the Truckee River or its tributaries, or
with waters of any of the creeks or streams, or with any of
the other waters herein mentioned.” [Emphasis added.] At
14
page 87, the Orr Ditch Decree further provides that the
“owner or owners of each ditch or canal herein authorized to
divert water from the Truckee River or any of its tributar-
ies, or from any ditch or canal or other waterway receiving
water therefrom [shall] install ... a ... headgate.” [Em-
phasis added.]}
C. THE GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF THE ORR
DITCH DECREE
The Truckee River Basin drains approximately 1,872
square miles. The Orr Ditch Decree adjudicated all, or
virtually all, of the then existing claims to use water
anywhere in the Truckee River System and Source, from
the Truckee River and its tributaries.
Ill. THE GENERAL ADJUDICATION OF ALL
RIGHTS TO USE WATER IN THE GILA RIVER
SYSTEM AND SOURCE
The Arizona State Legislature authorizes general
adjudications of water rights through Arizona Revised
Statutes § 45-251 et seg. A general adjudication is “an
action for the judicial determination or establishment of
the extent and priority of the rights of all persons to use
water in any river system and source.” A.R.S. § 45-251(2).
River system and source “means all water appropriable
under § 45-141 and all water subject to claims based upon
federal law.” A.R.S. § 45-251(7).
Under the McCarran Amendment (45 U.S.C. § 666)
“(cJonsent is given to join the United States as a defendant
in any suit (1) for the adjudication of rights to the use of
water in a river system or other source.” Consent to waiver
of sovereign immunity by the United States is only given
when the adjudication of the rights to the use of a river
system is all-inclusive. United States v. District Court in
and for Eagle County, Colorado, 401 U.S. 520, 9% S. Ct.
998, 28 L. Ed. 2d 278 (1971).
Prior to adoption of the general adjudication statutes,
Arizona’s water rights litigations were all small decrees
Fes ere mm AB SAS AE RRL RONEN NSN PSSM HN 22 SR sn SE A A SRC
ee ae ee re ee ee ee ee
15
with limited geographic scope. The Arizona Legislature
requires general adjudication courts to fold these pre-
existing decrees into the overall determination of water
rights for the entire river system and source. A.R.S. § 45-
257(B) provides:
The court, upon review of the report and in ac-
cordance with rule 53 of the Arizona rules of civil
procedure, shall:
1. Determine the extent and priority date of
and adjudicate any interest in or right to use the
water of the river system and source, provided
that when rights to the use of water or dates of
appropriation have previously been determined
in a prior decree of a court, the court shall accept
the determination of such rights and dates of ap-
propriation as found in the prior decree unless
such rights have been abandoned.
When the General Adjudication of All Rights to Use
Water in the Gila River System and Source is complete, it
will have quantified the water rights of all claimants to
use water throughout the Gila River watershed, including
incorporating all existing decrees that previously quanti-
fied water rights for small localized reaches of the Gila
River System and Source. When this process is complete,
the Gila River General Adjudication will be a comprehen-
sive water decree within the meaning of Nevada v. United
States, 463 U.S. 110, 103 S. Ct. 2906, 77 L. Ed. 2d 509
(1983).
REASONS FOR DENYING THE
CONDITIONAL CROSS-PETITION
I. THERE IS NO COMPELLING REASON TO
GRANT CERTIORARI,
“Review on a writ of certiorari is not a matter of right,
but of judicial discretion,” and a petition for certiorari will
be granted only for compelling reasons. Rule 10, Rules of
the Supreme Court of the United States. Over the years,
this Court has used a number of phrases to describe its
criteria for accepting a petition for a writ of certiorari.
16
Whether the Court requires “special and important rea-
sons,” that the issues be “substantial in character,” that
the issue involve an “important federal question,” or that
the petition contain a “compelling reason,” the rational is
the same — the Court will not use its limited resources to
make determinations that do not have a significant and
material impact.
A federal question raised by a petitioner may be
“of substance” in the sense that, abstractly con-
sidered, it may present an intellectually interest-
ing and solid problem. But this Court does not sit
to satisfy a scholarly interest in such issues. Nor
does it sit for the benefit of particular liti-
gants.... “Special important reasons” imply a
reach toa problem beyond the academic or epi-
sodic.
** *
[I]t is very important that we be consistent in not
granting the writ of certiorari except in cases in-
volving principles the settlement of which is of
importance to the public, as distinguished from
that of the parties, and in cases where there is a
real and embarrassing conflict of opinion and au-
thority between the Circuit Courts of Appeals.
Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, 349 U.S. 70,
74, 79, 75 S. Ct. 614, 616, 619-620, 99 L. Ed. 897 (1955).
This petition for a writ of certiorari does not involve
an issue of importance to the nation as a whole, to other
state or federal courts, or to the vast majority of the
citizens or water users in Arizona. The Arizona Supreme
Court holding, that there is a mutality exception to res
judicata, is consistent with Nevada v. United States. There
is no question of law involved. The Petitioner simply
believes that the Arizona Supreme Court made a factual
error in its application of the legal principle. There are no
compelling reasons to grant this petition.
17
Il. THE ARIZONA SUPREME COURT CORRECTLY
DETERMINED THAT THE GLOBE EQUITY NO.
59 DECREE DOES NOT BAR THE SAN CARLOS
APACHE TRIBE FROM CLAIMING THE RIGHT
TO USE WATER FROM THE TRIBUTARIES OF
THE MAINSTEM OF THE UPPER GILA RIVER
BECAUSE OF RES JUDICATA.
Claims in a current case are not subject to res judicata
claim preclusion unless the previous litigation meets three
criteria. “Res judicata applies when ‘the earlier suit .. . (1)
involves the same “claim” or cause of action as the later
suit, (2) reaches a final judgment on the merits, and (3)
involved identical parties or privies.’” [Citation omitted.]
Mpoyo v. Litton Electro-Optical Systems, 430 F.3d 985, 987
(9th Cir. 2005). “A judgment or decree among parties to a
lawsuit resolves issues as among them, but it does not
conclude the rights of strangers to the proceedings.”
Richards v. Jefferson County, Alabama, 517 U.S. 793, 797,
116 S. Ct. 1761, 1765, 135 L. Ed. 2d 76 (1996). “In order for
a judgment in a prior suit to create a res judicata bar of a
subsequent suit, the second suit must involve the ‘same
parties or their privies based on the same cause of action.’
Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 326, 99 S. Ct.
645, 649, 58 L. Ed. 2d 552 (1979).” Alaska Sport Fishing
Association v. Exxon Corporation, 34 F.2d 769, 773 (9th
Cir. 1994).”
Phelps Dodge Corporation was not a party, nor was it
in privity with any party, to the Globe Equity No. 59
Decree when it was entered in 1935.” Phelps Dodge was
" See also Gilbert v. Board of Medical Examiners, 155 Ariz.169,
745 P-2d 617 (App. 1987).
* See also PFS v. Industrial Commission of Arizona, 191 Ariz. 274,
278, 955 P2d 30, 34 (App. 1997) (“A judgment establishes claim
preclusion only between the parties and their privies.”)
" Subsequent to the entry of the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree,
Phelps Dodge Corporation acquired lands that have water rights under
the Decree. As to these lands, which divert decreed water from the
mainstem of the Gila River, Phelps Dodge Corporation is in privity and
(Continued on following page)
18
specifically dismissed from the Globe Equity litigation,
without prejudice, pursuant to a stipulation with the
United States. The party or privy requirement of claims
preclusion is particularly strong in the case of a consent
decree. The Globe Equity No. 59 Decree was a consent
decree. See United States v. Gila Valley Irrigation District,
454 F.2d 219 (9th Cir. 1972) and United States v. Gila
Valley Irrigation District, 31 F.3d 1428 (9th Cir. 1994).
In Lerain NAACP v. Lorain Board of Education, 979
F.2d 1141, 1148 (1992), the Sixth Circuit explained:
The consent decree is “a strange hybrid of law.”
... It is at once “a voluntary settlement agree-
ment which could be fully executed without judi-
cial intervention” and “a final judicial order ...
placling] the powers and prestige of the court be-
hind the compromise struck by the parties.” [Ci-
tation omitted.] Thus a consent decree is aptly
described as “a settlement agreement subject to
continued judicial policing. Since consent decrees
and orders share many of the attributes of ordi-
nary contracts, “they should be construed basi-
cally as contracts.” [Citation omitted.]
“Indeed, it is the parties’ agreement that serves
as the source of the court’s authority to enter any
judgment at all.... More importantly, it is the
agreement of the parties, rather than the force of
law upon which the complaint was originally
based, that creates the obligations embodied in a
consent decree.” Local Number 93, International
Association of Firefighters, AFL-CIO, C.L.C. v.
City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501, 522, 106 S. Ct.
3063, 3075, 92 L. Ed. 2d 405 (1986).
“A consent decree binds only the consenting parties.
See, e.g., United States v. Ward Baking Co., 376 U.S. 327,
receives both the benefits and responsibilities of the Decree. The claims
brought by Phelps Dodge Corporation in this petition for a writ of
certion’, deal with lands owned by Phelps Dodge Corporation that
divert, water only from tributaries to the Gila River.
19
84 S. Ct. 763, 11 L. Ed. 2d 743 (1964); Hughes v. United
States, 342 U.S. 353, 72 S. Ct. 306, 96 L. Ed. 394 (1952).”
Keith v. Volpe, 118 F.3d 1386, 1392 (9th Cir. 1997). A
judgment by consent against a plaintiff does not operate as
issue preclusion or claims preclusion against one not a
party to the agreement. Gall v. South Branch National
Bank of South Dakota, 783 F.2d 125, 127 (8th Cir. 1986).
Phelps Dodge Corporation was not a participant in the
Globe Equity consent decree. Phelps Dodge Corporation
did not consent to be bound by the terms of the Globe
Equity No. 59 Decree.
The Arizona Supreme Court correctly determined that
claims preclusion requires “identity or privity between
parties in the two suits.” Jn re The General Adjudication of
All Rights to Use Water in the Gila River System and Source,
212 Ariz. 64, 127 P.3d 882, 887 (2006). The Arizona Supreme
Court also correctly determined that Phelps Dodge Corpora-
tion was not a party, or in privity with a party, to the Globe
Equity No. 59 Decree and that Phelps Dodge Corporation
was not a consenting party. The Arizona Supreme Court
correctly determined that Phelps Dodge Corporation could
not claim the affirmative defense of claims preclusion (res
judicata) in the Gila River General Adjudication.
Ill. THE ARIZONA SUPREME COURT CORRECTLY
DETERMINED THAT THE NEVADA V. UNITED
STATES EXCEPTION TO THE MUTUALITY RE-
QUIREMENT OF RES JUDICATA DOES NOT
CAUSE THE GLOBE EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE
TO BAR THE RIGHT OF THE SAN CARLOS
APACHE TRIBE TO USE WATER FROM THE
TRIBUTARIES OF THE MAINSTEM OF THE
UPPER GILA RIVER.
In Nevada v. United States, supra, this Court crafted a
narrow exception to the mutuality requirement of claims
preclusion (res judicata). Phelps Dodge Corporation’s
allegation that the Nevada exception is applicable to the
Globe Equity No. 59 Decree is incorrect. In Nevada, this
Court referenced the general rule “that a prior judgment
20
will bar the ‘parties’ to the earlier lawsuit, ‘and those in
privity with them,’ from relitigating the cause of action.”
463 U.S. at 135, 103 S.Ct. at 2920. The Court noted
“[w]hile mutuality has been for the most part abandoned
in cases involving collateral estoppel, {citations omitted] it
has remained a part of the doctrine of res judicata,” 463
U.S. at 143, 103 S. Ct. at 2925, then stated “nevertheless,
exceptions to the res judicata mutuality requirement have
been found necessary, [citation omitted] and we believe
that such an exception is required in this case.” Jd.
The exception to the mutuality requirement of res
judicata arose from the comprehensive nature of the
original Orr Ditch Decree. “{A]s the Court of Appeals
determined, it ‘was no garden variety quiet title action.’”
Id. “As we have already explained, everyone involved in
Orr Ditch contemplated a comprehensive adjudication of
water rights intended to settle once and for all the ques-
tion of how much of the Truckee River each of the litigants
was entitled to.” [Emphasis added.] Jd.
The Orr Ditch Decree resulted from a comprehensive
water rights litigation that was in the nature of a contem-
porary general adjudication.
A quiet title action for the adjudication of water
rights, such as the Orr Ditch suit, is distinctively
equipped to serve these policies [finality of deci-
sions involving land and water] because “it en-
ables the court of equity to acquire jurisdiction of
all the rights involved and also of all the owners
of those rights and thus settle and permanently
adjudicate in a single proceeding all the rights,
or claims to rights, of all the claimants to the wa-
ter taken from a common source of supply.” [Em-
phasis added.]
463 U.S. at 129 n. 10, 103 S. Ct. at 2918 n. 10. In support
of its requirement that a prior decree be comprehensive
before a mutuality exception to res judicata can arise, this
Court quoted from Morgan v. Udy, 58 Idaho 670, 79 P.2d
295 (1938): “[I]n the settlement of cases of this character
every user of water on the stream and all of its tributaries
in litigation are interested in the final award to each
21
claimant.” [Emphasis added.] 463 U.S. at 139, 103 S. Ct.
at 2923.
This Court concluded, “We agree with the Court of
Appeals that under ‘these circumstances it would be
manifestly unjust ... not to permit subsequent appropria-
tors’ to hold the Reservation to the claims it made in Orr
Ditch.” [Emphasis added.] 463 U.S. at 144, 103 S. Ct. at
2925. The Orr Ditch Decree allowed for an exception to the
mutuality requirement of res judicata because the Orr
Ditch Decree adjudicated the water rights to the entire
Truckee River and all of its tributaries in Nevada. The Orr
Ditch Decree was comprehensive.
In the McCarran Amendment, Congress waived the
United States’ sovereign immunity in certain water rights
quantification cases. The precondition for waiver of sover-
eign immunity was that the proceedings had to be com-
prehensive general adjudications of all the water rights in
an entire river system. Nine years before issuing its
decision in Nevada v. United States, this Court empha-
sized the essential nature of comprehensiveness in general
adjudications of water rights in entire river systems.
The clear federal policy evidenced by that legisla-
tion [McCarran Amendment] is the avoidance of
piecemeal adjudication of water rights in a river
system.... This concern is heightened with re-
spect to water rights, the relationships among
which are highly interdependent. Indeed, we
have recognized that actions seeking the alloca-
tion of water essentially involve the disposition of
property and are best conducted in unified pro-
ceedings. ... The consent to jurisdiction given by
the McCarran Amendment bespeaks a policy
that recognizes the availability of comprehensive
state systems for adjudication of water rights as
the means for achieving those goals. [Emphasis
added.|
Colorada River Water Conservation District v. United States,
424 U.S, 800, 819, 96 S. Ct. 1236, 1247, 471 L. Ed. 2d 483
(1976).
22
The Ninth Circuit explained the McCarran require-
ments for waiver of sovereign immunity in water rights
cases.
There can be little doubt as to the type of suit
congress had in mind. It was not a private dis-
pute between certain water users as to their con-
flicting rights to the use of a stream system;
rather it was the quasi-public proceeding which
in the law of western waters is known as a “gen-
eral adjudication” of a stream system; one in
which the rights of all claimants on a stream sys-
tem as between themselves are ascertained and
officially stated.
State of California v. Rank, 293 F.2d 340, 347 (1961)
(reversed on other grounds sub nom. Dugan v. Rank, 372
U.S. 609, 83 S. Ct. 999, 10 L. Ed. 2d 15).
Two years after Nevada v. United States, the Ninth
Circuit denied a mutuality exception to res judicata
because the water rights litigation was not comprehensive
and encompassing.
Because the 1945 consent decree was not a gen-
eral adjudication of all water rights in the
Yakima River Basin and did not adjudicate the
treaty rights of the Yakima Nation,[FN4] appel-
lants’ res judicata argument also fails.
FN4. The 1945 decree resulted from a suit filed
by the United States in 1939, seeking a determi-
nation of their responsibilities to various contract
holders in the Yakima Irrigation District. Neither
side joined the additional parties that would
have been necessary to a general adjudication,
like the one involved in Nevada v. United States.
[Citation omitted.] The final decree settled only
the rights of the irrigation districts made party
to the proceeding.
Kittias Reclamation District v. Sunnyside Valley Irrigation
District, 763 F.2d 1032, 1035 (1985). See also State of
Washington Department of Ecology v. Grimes, 121 Wash.
2d 459, 467, 852 P.2d 1044, 1048-1049 (1993) (“A general
adjudication is a special form of quiet title action to
23
determine all existing rights to the use of water from a
specific body of water.”)
“The only proper method of adjudicating the rights on
a stream ... is to have all owners of lands on the water-
shed ... in court at the same time.” People of the State of
California v. United States, 235 F.2d 647, 663 (9th Cir.
1956). The Orr Ditch Decree was a comprehensive water
rights decree that determined all of the existing rights to
use water from the Truckee River and all of its tributaries
in Nevada (i.e., the entire river system and source). The
Globe Equity No. 59 Decree, on the other hand, was not
intended to be a comprehensive water rights decree.
Prior to the adoption of the Globe Equity No. 59
Decree, the United States dismissed (without prejudice)
any claims against any named defendants who took water
only from tributaries to the mainstem of the Upper Gila
River. Phelps Dodge Corporation entered into a stipulation
whereby it agreed that it would be dismissed from the
Globe Equity litigation (without prejudice) because it only
took water from the tributaries to the mainstem of the
Upper Gila River and, therefore, it was outside the geo-
graphic scope of the Globe Equity litigation.
Phelps Dodge Corporation willingly took advantage of
its dismissal from the Globe Equity litigation, based on the
fact that its water use from the tributaries was not within
the geographic scope of the litigation — thereby ensuring
that the ultimate decree would not be comprehensive.
Now, however, Phelps Dodge Corporation argues that the
Globe Equity No. 59 Decree should still be treated as if
Phelps Dodge had actually participated. Having avoided
the responsibilities of the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree,
Phelps Dodge Corporation has no rights under the Decree.
The Arizona Legislature recognized the limited
nature of the small localized water rights decrees issued
by various courts before the adoption of the general
adjudication statutes. A.R.S. § 45-257(B) requires the
general adjudication court to incorporate the water
rights quantified by the earlier, non-comprehensive
water rights decrees into its final decree. If the Globe
24
Equity No. 59 Decree, the Kent Decree, or the San Pedro
Decision were comprehensive water rights decrees,
within the meaning of Nevada v. United States, they
would be self-encompassing and it would not be necessary
to include them in a broader decree.
The Globe Equity No. 59 Decree adjudicated the water
rights of approximately 140,000 acres of the 36,851,000
acres of land in the Gila River System and Source. The
Globe Equity No. 59 Decree quantified the water rights of
less than four-tenths of one percent of the land within the
Gila River watershed. The Globe Equity No. 59 Decree did
not quantify the water rights to over 36,500,000 acres of
the land within the Gila River watershed. When the Gila
River General Adjudication is complete, it will have
determined all of the existing rights to use water on any
land within the Gila River System and Source. The final
decree ultimately issued by the Gila River General Adju-
dication Court will be a comprehensive water rights decree
that will be subject to the Nevada v. United States mutual-
ity exception to res judicata.
The Orr Ditch Decree quantified the water rights of
one hundred percent of the acres of land within the
Truckee River System and Source (including all of its
tributaries). The Globe Equity No. 59 Decree quantified the
water rights of less than four-tenths of one percent of the
acres of land within the Gila River System and Source,
and did not include water rights from any of the Gila
River’s tributaries. A decree that quantifies the water
rights of less than four-tenths of one percent of the water
rights in an entire river watershed is not comprehensive,
and is not subject to the mutuality exception to res judi-
cata.
‘he Arizona Supreme Court correctly determined that
the ‘zlobe Equity No. 59 Decree was not comprehensive
because it failed to quantify water rights to any tributary
of the Upper Gila River. “[B]ecause we have determined
that the Decree itself precludes only additional claims to
the mainstem, any assertion of oreclusive effect by the
Nonparties with respect to the waters of the tributaries
25
fails.” In re The General Adjudication of All Rights to Use
Water in the Gila River System and Source, supra, 127
P.3d at 902.
IV. THE ARIZONA SUPREME COURT CORRECTLY
DECIDED THAT THE UNITED STATES PROP-
ERLY SPLIT ITS WATER RIGHTS CLAIMS TO
THE MAINSTEM OF THE UPPER GILA RIVER
AND THE TRIBUTARIES TO THE MAINSTEM
MADE ON BEHALF OF ‘THE SAN CARLOS
APACHE INDIAN RESERVATION IN THE
GLOBE EQUITY NO. 59 DECREE.
Phelps Dodge Corporation asserts that it should be
allowed to allege a claims preclusion (res judicata), arising
from the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree, even though it
stipulated to having its claims dismissed from the litiga-
tion without prejudice. The basis for this assertion is a
claim that the United States did not “split” its claim to the
use of the water of the tributaries from its claim to the use
of the water of the mainstem of the Upper Gila River.
Phelps Dodge Corporation references cases that
discuss the general principle that res judicata can attach
to both claims that were brought and claims that could
have been brought. See Scoggin v. Schrunk, 522 F.2d 436
(9th Cir. 1975); United States v. Skokomish Indian Tribe,
764 F.2d 670 (9th Cir. 1985); Simmons v. New Public
School District No. 8, 251 F.3d 1210 (8th Cir. 2001);
California v. Randtron, 284 F.3d 969 (9th Cir. 2002); and
May v. Parker-Abbott Transfer and Storage, Inc., 899 F.2d
1007 (10th Cir. 1990). The cases cited by Phelps Dodge
Corporation actually support the Arizona Supreme Court's
determination that the United States properly “split” its
water rights claim to the tributaries from its water rights
claim to the mainstem of the Upper Gila River.
Scoggin v. Schrunk confirms that, if a case involved
two separate claims upon which the plaintiff was entitled
to separate remedies, the first action did not bar recovery
on the unjoined claim in the second action. 522 F.2d at
437. Arizona had dozens of small, localized water rights
26
decrees prior to the adoption of the general adjudication
statute. None of the parties in any of those localized
decrees brought action against every other water user in
the Gila River System and Source. They chose to sue some
water users (those in close proximity who took water from
the same localized reach) and not sue other water users.
There was no obligation to sue every other water user in
the state. The United States’ decision to bring judicial
action against only part of the potential defendants was a
permissible and common practice, which does not create
any res judicata effect.
In United States v. Skokomish Indian Tribe, the Ninth
Circuit held that res judicata did not prevent three Indian
tribes from litigating issues between themselves when “it
would not ‘partially undo’ the earlier decree.” 764 F.2d at
671. The Globe Equity No. 59 Decree quantifies and allows
enforcement of water rights as between specific parties
who all take their Globe Equity No. 59 Decree water from
the mainstem of the Gila River. Preventing Phelps Dodge
Corporation, which was dismissed from the Globe Equity
litigation without prejudice from claiming a res judicata
effect from the Decree will not affect the rights of parties to
the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree in any way, let alone
“partially undo” the Decree.
Simmons v. New Public School District No. 8, recog-
nized that a prior judgment does not have a claims preclu-
sion (res judicata) effect on a subsequent litigation “when
the parties to the first action ‘have agreed in terms or in
effect that the plaintiff may split his claim, or the defen-
dant has acquiesced therein.’” 251 F.3d at 1214. With the
entry of the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree, the parties
agreed, pursuant to the express terms of the consent
decree, that all parties who took water only from the
tributaries would be dismissed without prejudice ~— thereby
affirming the decision of the United States to “split” its
claim to water from the tributaries from its claim to water
from the mainstem of the Upper Gila River. Phelps Dodge
Corporation “acquiesced therein” by stipulating to its
dismissal from the litigation without prejudice.
27
Similarly, California v. Randtron, affirms that “a
party can waive res judicata by consenting to split the
claim into two suits.” 284 F.3d at 975. Phelps Dodge
Corporation waived any potential res judicata effect from
the Globe Equity litigation when it consented to the
United States’ splitting of its claim to tributary water from
its claim for mainstem water by stipulating to its dis-
missal without prejudice.
May v. Parker-Abbott Transfer and Storage, Inc.,
recognized that “consent decrees are of a contractual
nature and, as such, their terms may alter the preclusive
effects of a judgment.” 899 P.2d at 1010. In that particular
case, the consent decree was “absolutely silent as to the
settlement’s intended res judicata effect.” Id. In Globe
Equity, the consent decree is crystal clear in its intent that
all parties with claims to use water only from the tributar-
ies be dismissed without prejudice, and that these dis-
missed defendants receive neither benefits nor detriments
from the Decree’s provisions.
Phelps Dodge Corporation had, at one time, been a
party defendant in the Globe Equity litigation. Phelps
Dodge Corporation’s inclusion in the litigation was a
mistake, because the United States was only making
claims to the right to use water from the mainstem of the
Upper Gila River. The United States decided that it would
not seek to quantify its rights to water from the tributar-
ies. Phelps Dodge Corporation stipulated to the claims
against it being dismissed without prejudice.
Phelps Dodge Corporation is asking this Court to
determine that a dismissal without prejudice means that
the plaintiff can never refile the action against the party
who was dismissed. Phelps Dodge Corporation is asking
this Court to prohibit parties from choosing to end a
current litigation, without prejudice, with the option of
reinstituting the litigation at a future date. This request
runs counter to established common law.
A “‘dismissal . . . without prejudice’ is a dismissal that
does not ‘operatie] as an adjudication on the merits,’ Rule
41(aX(1), and thus does not have a res judicata effect.”
28
Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corporation, 496 U.S. 384, 396,
110 S. Ct. 2447, 2456, 110 L. Ed. 2d 359 (1990). “Dismissal
without prejudice indicates that judgment is not on the
merits and will have no preclusive effect.” Jet, Inc. v.
Sewage Aeration Systems, 223 F.3d 1360, 1364 (Fed. Cir.
2000). See also Santana v. City of Tulsa, 359 F.3d 1241,
1246 (10th Cir. 2004); and Mann v. Haigh, 120 F.3d 34, 35
(4th Cir. 1997) (“the district court’s earlier dismissal was
made expressly without prejudice and, accordingly, has
neither an issue nor a claim preclusive effect”).
The inapplicability of res judicata to cases that are
dismissed without prejudice is not a new legal doctrine.
The law was the same in 1935, when Phelps Dodge Corpo-
ration stipulated to its dismissal from the litigation ~
without prejudice. “A bill dismissed without prejudice is
not a bar to a subsequent suit.” Robinson v. American Car
& Foundry Co., 135 F. 693, 696 (7th Cir. 1905). “The cases
are legion wherein a dismissal without prejudice has been
construed as a reservation of a right to reinstate the
proceeding.” Id.
The United States utilized the most comprehensive,
most effective, most open and notorious means of “split-
ting” its claim to the water of the tributaries and its claim
to the water of the mainstem of the Gila River. The United
States dismissed all of its claims against all of the parties
who diverted water only from the tributaries. Phelps
Dodge Corporation stipulated to the dismissal of all claims
against its use of the water of the tributaries, without
prejudice. Phelps Dodge Corporation was well aware that
dismissal of the claims against it, without prejudice,
meant that the claims could, and almost certainly would,
be brought at some time in the future. That time is sow.
The Arizona Supreme Court properly determined that
“parties to a consent decree can agree to limit the decree’s
preclusive effects.” In re The General Adjudication of Alli
Rights to Use Water in the Gila River System and Source,
supra, 127 P.3d at 888. The Arizona Supreme Court was
correct in its determination that a “dismissal without preju-
dice is a dismissal that does not operate as an adjudication
29
upon the merits and thus does not have a res judicata
effect.” 127 P.3d at 892. The Arizona Supreme Court
correctly determined that Phelps Dodge Corporation has
no right to assert a claims preclusion (res judicata) effect,
arising from the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree, in the Gila
River General Adjudication.
+
CONCLUSION
With regard to its lands that take water from the
tributaries, Phelps Dodge Corporation is not now, and
never has been, a party to the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree.
With regard to the lands and water rights claims that are
the subject of this petition for writ of certiorari, Phelps
Dodge Corporation is not in privity with any party to the
Globe Equity No. 59 Decree. Phelps Dodge Corporation’s
failure to be a party, or in privity with a party, to the Globe
Equity No. 59 Decree is fatal to its claim of claim preclu-
sion (res judicata) in the Gila River General Adjudication.
Unlike the Orr Ditch Decree, the Globe Equity No. 59
Decree is not a comprehensive water rights adjudication of all
the rights of all the parties to the use of all the water of the
entire river system and source. Phelps Dodge Corporation
knew that the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree was not compre-
hensive, and that it was not intended to be comprehensive
when it was entered in 1935. Phelps Dodge Corporation
actively worked to ensure that the Globe Equity No. 59 Decree
would not be comprehensive by stipulating to the dismissal of
the action against its claims to the waters of the tributaries.
A decree that quantifies less than four-tenths of one
percent of the land within a watershed is not comprehensive,
as is required before the Nevada v. United States exception
to the mutuality requirement of res judicata can be imposed.
The United States properly “split” its claim to the
waters of the tributaries and its claim to the waters of the
mainstem of the Upper Gila River by dismissing from the
litigation, without prejudice, all party defendants who took
water only from the tributaries. Dismissal without prejudice
30
has no claims preclusion (res judicata) effect. Following a
dismissal without prejudice, the plaintiff has the right to
refile the action. Phelps Dodge Corporation consented to
the United States’ decision to split the claims when Phelps
Dodge stipulated to being dismissed from the litigation
without prejudice.
Respectfully submitted,
RODNEY B. LEwIs
Counsel of Record
JENNIFER K. GIFF
General Counsel
JOHN T. HESTAND
TIMOTHY L. PIERSON
RUTH E. KOESTER
Post Office Box 97
Sacaton, Arizona 85247
Telephone: (520) 562-9760
Attorneys for the Gila River
Indian Community
App. 1
APPENDIX 1
Globe Equity No. 59
In the District Court of the United States
In and for the District of Arizona
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
vs.
GILA VALLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT, ET AL.
DECREE ENTERED JUNE 29, 1935
Page 6
This cause came on to be heard at this term, and
thereupon it was shown to the court:
That the plaintiff and the parties defendant whose
claims and rights have been presented by answer or
stipulation and remain for determination herein, have
concluded and settled all issues in this cause as between
plaintiff and said parties defendant, and as between said
defendants and each of them and every other thereof, and
mutually have agreed — all as evidenced, for plaintiff, by
the assenting signatures, endorsed at the end hereof, of its
solicitors of record and the Attorney General and Secre-
tary of the Interior of the United States, and for said
defendants, by the assenting signatures, likewise endorsed
at the end hereof personally, or of their several solicitors of
record — that such settlement should be embodied in and
confirmed and made effective by way of the within decree
of the Court in this cause defining asd adjudicating their
claims and rights as against each other in identical form
and substance as hereinafter set forth; and the Court upon
consideration thereof and of the record herein as to the
disposal of the parties defendant who have been separated
from the cause, and being duly informed in said premises,
App. 2
doth find, order, adjudge, and declare its decree herein to
be as follows, namely:
I
That by the orders of this Court dated January 22,
1929, and March 11, 1930, this suit and the amended
complaint herein, upon the motion of plaintiff, were
dismissed as to defendants:
John S. Abbott; Charles A. Adams; A. Allen;
Francisco Alvidrus; Paul Beeker; George P. Ben-
nett; Mary E. Benscoe; Bentz Brothers; J. W.
Bentz; George A. Bigler; C. O. Billingsley; Est. of
Paul Blackmore; B. A. Boyles; Sam Brown; New-
ton Bradley; Juan Cachon; Ella Carpenter; J. C.
Carpenter; Rachel Carr; John Castro; Chono Ce-
layo; Tim Chapman; Ben M. Crawford; W. J.
Davis; G. H. Dinsmore; John Eastman; Dud EI-
dridge; J. F. English; Helen T. French; Mattie M.
Hall; Hawkins & Simms Milling & Irrigating
Company; A. W. Heath; Mrs. Clara Hicks; James
Henshall; Jacob Hildebaugh; J. I. Hinkle; J. P.
Hinkle; A. M. Hooper; Roger Hoopes; J. G. Hop-
kins; R. T. Horrell; Arthur Houser; S. L. Johns;
Bennet J. Kellner; Ernest F. Kellner; H. D. Kep-
per; J. H. Kerby; J. H. Lacey; John Laffey; Louise
LeBaron; James LeHoxi; W. A. Leonard; Mrs.
Frank Lewis; J. W. Lightfoot; George Lobb;
Gordon McLean; B. Mately; Rafael Memos; Man-
rico Mijia; Sidney B. Moeur; E. C. Montgomery;
Charles Morrell; Reputhio Moriz; George
Olmstead; Lillian W. Pearl; James A. Perkins;
Marie C. Peters; S. K. Phillips; Frederick M.
Putnam; John Ralston; Gabriel Robles; H. N.
Russel; Victoriana Ruiz; J. Ryan; H. Salazar;
Manuel Serano; S. Schultz; Charles H. Vann;
App. 3
Walter Shayeb; Estate of Charles R. Sligh; Nol-
berto Subia; Edward H. Sinclair; George Thomp-
son; Jose Tonis; J. G. Turney; Manual Urtiaga;
Elijah Urtiaga; Judd Webster; George W. Wells;
and O. H. Brown;
W. L. Cauthen; W. R. Elliott; William Jack-
son; J. F. Kepper; D. T. McGuire; and H. B.
Sweeting; |
it having been found and determined by the Court in that
relation that they and each of them were not proper or
necessary parties defendant in this cause; which said
action of the Court in these premises hereby confirmed.
II
That by way of amended complaint, as filed herein on
the 5th day of December, A.D., 1927, and orders of this
Court bringing in new parties defendant under said
amended complaint,
Page 7
this suit and the amended complaint herein were directed
against each and all of the defendants named below, to-
wit:
D. Bertoglio; Beatrice Perry; and H. B. Wig-
gins;
Also, James R. Pruett; Antonio Specia and
H. B. Summers;
Also, American Smelting and Refining Com-
pany; A. A. Anderson; John N. Anderson; Mary A.
Antenoll; Estate of Walter Baitty, Homer H. Mar-
tin, Administrator; J. W. Baker; Henry Bames-
berger; Ruth R. Barham; Estate of Thomas
App. 4
Barrett, Dan T. Peart, Administrator; Pansy
Kenower Bartlett; Madelene Bassler; Albert C.
Becken; Grace R. Becken; Charles F. Bennett;
Jarvus D. Bennett; Francis D. Blair, Clifton Bo-
gard; C. D. Bradley; Ida M. Bradley; John R.
Bradshaw; Esther A. Brockway; Ira S. Brayton;
Marshall F. Brockway; Charlotte Hall Brown;
Elizabeth Brown; J. P. Brown; Sarah B. Brown;
Thresa Hall Brown; Estate of W. F. Brown, P. D.
Overfield, Administrator; John J. Buggs; John W.
Burris; Lee Robinson Burris; L. B. Cadwell; Casa
Grande Valley Bank; Mike Celaya; Estate of W.
B. Charlton, John E. Charlton, Administrator;
Albert J. Christensen; Edith M. Clemans; Hazel
H. Clemans; Winnefred W. Clemans; W. J. Cle-
mans, Jr.; W. P. Clements; Mrs. Charles E. Cleve-
land; Inez H. Conrad; Thomas A. Crow; Jennie
Davidson; Maurice Dodd; Tracy Eastman; Chris-
tobell G. Ellis; Joe Erny; Jesus Espinosa; Jose T.
Espinosa; Salvador 8S. Feliz; C. A. Fitzgerald;
James D. Freeman; Fidelity Savings & Loan As-
sociation; First National Bank of Florence; May
E. Furback; Kathrina Gack; Estate of George F.
Gallagher, Robert Denton, Administrator; L. D.
Gamble; M. L. Gilbert; George F. Graham; Nellie
R. Gochenouer; Joseph Greene; Virginia Hales;
John Hamilton; A. T. Hammons, Receiver; May
Catlin Hansen; J. B. Harsha; Vernon W. Havins;
John Hendricks; W. E. Herron; Edith B.
Jamieson; James C. Jayne; E. R. Johnson; Rich-
ard J. Jones; Julia R. Julian; Fred R. Kenover;
Ola R. Kenover; H. B. Klingenberg; Anna E.
Kochsmeier; Frederick Kochsmeier; Henry
Kochsmeier, Sr.; Henry D. Kochsmeier; Maria
Kochsmeier; Gustav K. Kratzka; James J. Kruse;
J. E. LaFleur; W. W. Lane; Dirk Lay; Elizabeth L.
Lay; Estate of Lola W. Lee, Dan T. Peart, Admin-
istrator; David A. Little; Minnie Lobb; Estate of
App. 5
W. H. Lonergan, T. A. Lonergan, Administrator;
May H. McBennett; A. L. McCann; Alpha E.
McCann; Minnie M. McCann; James K. McCarty;
Carrie McDowell; M. W. McDowell; Gertrude B.
McGee; Glen CC. McKenzie; Elizabeth P.
McMurray; Melanie Mendell; Rita Marquez; Ivey
Marshall; Ralph K. Marshall; Joe Marta; David
Omer Martin; Ben B. Mathews; Josiah J. Maxey;
R. D. Melick; Lillian C. Merchant; John B.
Michea; J. L. Mills; Mary L. Miles; R. M. Miller;
Lillian I. Mitchell; Henry G. Moeller; Fayette
Moore; Ethel M. Moorehouse; H. W. Moorehouse;
Vashti B. Moorehouse; Margarete L. Murphy; J.
S. Murry; C. H. Niemeyer; Lillian O’Connor;
Olive J. O'Connor; Lewis Olesen; Antonio S.
Padilla; Florence Palamounter; Howard G.
Palamounter; Lee Patrick; Roy F. Patrick; George
W. Pattee; Harriet E. Pattee; Estate of Earl P.
Patterson, Thomas D. Derry, Administrator; Wil-
lie K. Pearson; Emma Pennington; Walter J.
~ Pennington; Amandus C. Peters; Addie Phillips;
Margaret E. Pierce; Pinal Investment Company;
Frank Pinkley; Eli E. Piper; W. M. Pollock; Grace
P. Pottebaum; Robert H. Pottebaum; Estate of W.
Y. Price; Mrs. W. Y. Price; Alice M. Prouty; Lloyd
W.-Prouty; W. Scott Prouty; Edwin Ralph; Hen-
derson H. Raybourn; A. V. Read; Martin J. Reed;
Fern M. Richardson; H. G. Richardson; S. H. Ro-
rabaugh; Ralph M. Rounds; Andris V. Salazar;
Christiana Salazar; John Saxman; B. W. Scholtz;
Estate of Elizabeth Schultz, Fred T. Armstead,.
Administrator; William J. Schultze; Charles M.
Schwab; Emma B. Schwarm; Clara C. Seagoe;
George P. Sellers; Mary S. Scheafe; Elizabeth
Shannon; Mary L. Shannon; Chloren B. Shiflet;
-dJohn Sigfrid; Carrie S. Sigler; George W. Sigler;
J. O. Simmons; Southern Arizona Bank & Trust
Company; Herbert G. Sparks; C. C. Springer;
App. 6
Mary E. Stevens; T. V. Stokes; Walter W. Stovall;
Tim Sullivan; Surety Abstract & Realty Com-
pany; J. C. Swan; Estate of John W. Sweeney,
Sam Sweeney, Administrator; Chas. F. Tantlin-
ger; S. E. Tellyer; Frank A. Thackery; Augusta
Thor; Fred Thor; Mae Tiffiny; Mrs. Billie
Page 8
Treat; S. Louise Trekell; Mary E. Truman; E. S.
Turville; Mrs. A. C. Urban; F. A. Urban; Valley
Bank of Phoenix; Calbert L. Vance; Viola C.
Vance; Ed G. Van Haren; Gregorio Vasquez;
Augustine Villar; Joe Villar; George P. Walker;
Harry Ward; Roy S. Ward; C. E. Waterbury; Josie
Waterbury; Katie E. Weaver; Adolphus Weyrick;
Natalia M. White; Dorcas E. Whitlow; Josephine
R. Wills; Sophia Wind; Jessie P. Woody; Soren
Yensen; and Elsie DeWolf Zellweger;
That original process thereunder by way of Subpoena
Ad Respondendum, or by Court Order under section 57 of
the Judicial Code, was duly issued and served, with a copy
of the amended complaint, upon each of the aforenamed
defendants, and each of said defendants failed and ne-
glected to make or file an answer or otherwise defend or
make a plea to said amended complaint as required by
Rule 16 of the Rules of Practice for Courts of Equity of the
United States; that orders taking the amended complaint
as confessed by them and each of them were duly made
herein. and entered in the Order Book on the 25th day of
November, 1929, the 11th day of March, 1930 and on the
19th day of December, 1934, in the office of the Clerk of
this Court: each such order being so made and entered
after the failure of each of the particular defendants
named therein to make answer, defense or other plea as
aforesaid; that no proceeding has been taken or initiated
App. 7
by them or any of them since the entry of said orders, and
each thereof; and said defendants and each and every of
them are now and remain in default of any answer, de-
fense or other plea herein, and more than 30 days have
elapsed since the entry of said orders and each thereof.
That under the orders Pro Confesso aforesaid, the
amended complaint is taken as confessed, and it is or-
dered, adjudged and decreed herein, that the defendants
above named in this article and each thereof, as against
any of the parties plaintiff or defendant in this cause, their
assigns or successors in interest, or their rights as herein
decreed; that said defendants and each of them have no
right to the use of water from the Gila River as against the
parties to this action other tan those set up in this
decree, and they and each «’ them and, their heirs, execu-
tors, administrators and a**.3ns or successors in interest
are debarred and estopped from asserting or claiming any
different or other, right, title or interest in or to the water
or the use of any water from the Gila River as against the
rights of the plaintiff and those of the defendants deter-
‘mined and set up in this decree.
Ill
That, upon the motion of the plaintiff, by Order of this
Court dated March 30, 1935, this suit and the amended
complaint herein were dismissed without prejudice as to
the following defendants, to-wit:
S. B. Blake; Cluff & Mitchell; Colvin-Jones
Consolidated Ditch Co.; John H. Davidson; W. P.
Ferris; Jose Gonzales; T. Hinton; Layton & Ison;
James Layton; E. D. McEuen; Roy A. Martin;
Ed Moody; J. C. Norton; George A. Olney; Asa
App. 8
Packard; N. E. Platt; W. E. Posy; S. A. Powell;
Pursley & Nash; Mrs. Mary Reynolds; Bert E.
Rose; Smithville Extension Canal Company; Ci-
naoo Telles; E. L. Tidwell; Louis Voelokei; W. J.
Walton; T. W. Wamslee; Estate 1 Webster, F. A.
Webster, Administrator; Estate of J. R. Williams;
B. D. Wilson; Young & Ridgway;
Also, Bank of Duncan; D. E. Barlow; J. W. -
Becker; Billingsley Canal Company; R. T. Bishop;
Harry H. Boyer; Burcher Ditch Company; Estate
of W. C. Cheatham; Edward C. Cole; Consoli-
dated Canal Company; J. H. T. Cosper; Cosper-
Wilson Canal Company; Ethel M. Cunningham;
E. C. DeMoss; Double Circle Cattle Company;
Thomas Edwards; Bonnie Elrage; Mangus El-
rage; Mrs. Geo. J. Filleman; J. J. Filleman;
Franklin Canal Company; Fred J. Fritz; Mrs.
Katie Fritz; Furr & Blain; Harve K. Gatlin; Gila
Ranch Company; Greenhorn Ditch Company;
Greenhorn Irrigating Canal; County of Greenlee;
O. C. Greenwell; Ole Hagan; William F. Hagan;
S. P. Hale; Francelle Heywood; Mrs. Clara Hicks;
County of Hidalgo; Hill Ditch; Francis M.
Hodges; Lettie
Page 9
F. Hunt; M. J. Jensen; M. L. Jensen; D. L. John-
son; F. E. Johnson; R. S. Johnson; A. L. Jones;
H. Jones, Sr., Estate; Martin & Pearson Ditci;
Martin & Pearson Irrigating Canal Company;
Arven Mortensen; T. J. Nations; G. O. Payne; C.
V. Peery; T. M. Peters; Dell M. Potter; Fred Pow-
ell; R. Richardson; Romney Brothers; Romney &
Lunt; Rucker Ditch; School District No. 30; J. M.
Smelley; A. F. Smith; The Estate of Spoon, Ira L.
Spoon, Adm.; A. G. Stevenson; W. R. Stevenson;
App. 9
Sunset Irrigating Canal Company; D. H. Thomp-
son; W. Plune Tibbets; H. P. Trainor; Virden
Ward; Ward & Courtney Dam Company; T. M.
Williamson; State of New Mexico;
Also, Phelps Dodge Corporation; Arizona
Copper Company;
Also, Morenci Water Company;
Also, Aztec Mutual Canal Company; James
Leroy McCarthy; Richard E. Geyler; Frank C.
Elwell.
Said action was had and taken in pursuance of those
certain five stipulations between the plaintiff and the
defendants above named through their solicitors of record,
on file herein, wherein and wherefrom it appeared that
said defendants and each of them had been named in this
action and amended complaint, as parties defendant
herein, through and by inadvertance, mistake and error,
and that their claims and rights, if any, were and are
outside the scope of said suit as same was and is outlined
and defined in the amended complaint herein, and that
they and each of them should be dismissed and eliminated —
from said cause, although some of them had filed their
answers setting up their claims and rights to the use of
certain waters from some of the tributaries of the Gila
River, and said answers were filed through mistake and a
misunderstanding as to the scope of said cause as outlined
and defined in plaintiffs said amended complaint. It was
agreed in said stipulations that the dismissal of said
defendants should be accomplished upon motion of the
plaintiff and Order of this Court as aforesaid, and that
said Order should provide as in fact it does, as made and
entered, of record herein that: said action and dismissal
should be without prejudice to said defendants and each of
App. 10
them and/or to any of the other parties in this cause, or to
any claim or rights to the use of water which said defen-
dants, or any of them, or said other parties or any of them,
now or hereafter may have, against the other or others,
and that said defendants, and each of them, should be left
as though they never had been named or made parties
defendant herein; which said action heretofore taken by
the Court in the premises, is hereby confirmed, and the
provisions herein recited in reference thereto are made a
part of this decree to protect their rights in that respect.
That, upon motion of the plaintiff, by Order of this
Court dated March 30, 1935, this suit and the amended
complaint were dismissed as to the following named
defendants, to-wit:
A. P. Angle; Arizona Hercules Copper Com-
pany; Josephine Burks; Simon Cisneros; Louis
Gilson; Gold Bullion Mining Company; Charles
J. Gross; John M. Hatfield; G. H. Head; London
Gila Mining Company; Theodore Lujan; Kathe-
rine S. Mellon; Luis Santos; and Manuel Tibbets;
Also, Frisco Placer Mining Company; Anna
M. Gale; A. A. Larona; Brotten Lunt; Jose San-
chez; William Whelin; Harry C. White; and the
White Mountain Lumber Company.
Said action having been taken for the reason that;
from said motion on file herein it appeared that said
defendants and each of them has no interest in the issues
of this action and that none of them were or are necessary
parties defendant; the action heretofore taken in these
premises is hereby confirmed.
That, upon motion of the plaintiff, by Order of this
Court dated March 30, 1935, this suit and the amended
App. 11
complaint were dismissed, without prejudice, as to the
following named
Page 10
defendants, to-wit:
Castilo Ditch; Thomas Crabtree; Ed Elrage;
Dale M. Garden; Jensen Brothers; J. B. Johns; F.
Vernon Jones; William L. Keppler; Randall Lunt;
Vernon Lunt; M. J. McClaren; Hugh McKeen;
William Milligan; Alfred Mortenson; Nichols &
Company; Tomas Ponce; Serano R. Sexton;
Ernest D. Shade; C. M. Short; Frank Shiver; A.
R. Snyder; S. Stewart; T. L. Stockton; J. A. Suy-
dam; Luther T. Sweeting; Miss E. A. Swofford; O.
F. Swofford; Bonnie Ulrage; J. F. Wardner; and
W. F. Willis;
said action having been taken, because it appeared from
said motion on file herein and the records; that said
defendants and each of them were brought into the action
by inadvertance and mistake and each was and is not a
necessary party to this action, for the reason that they
have no interests or that they are outside the scope of the
suit as defined in the amended complaint herein. The
action taken heretofore in these premises is hereby con-
firmed.
That at the same time and in the same order this suit
and amended complaint were dismissed as to the following
defendants, to-wit:
W. B. Barham; J. M. Biddle; Mary W. Brad-
shaw; Jackson Branaman; Martha W. Brockway;
Fred D. Carpenter; E. D. Chandler; Dessa Harbi-
son; Jim Harper; Jacob Helfenstein; A. S. Henry;
Mrs. Alice Huntsman; John A. Johnson; A. E.
App. 12
Keoler; T. A. Lonergan; Clara B. McFarland;
Gordon McMurray; William C. McNatt; R. B.
Maley; Martha M. Merrill; Estate of Lizzie B.
Murphy; W. F. Murphy, Sr., Administrator; John
Nash; Ansel Phelps; Georgiana Phelps; George
W. Sheerer; Chas. D. Stahiberg; Glodine Stahl-
berg; Phoebe E. Templeton; Estate of Jose
Vasquez, Charles F. Bennett, Administrator; Al-
bert Warren; Alice E. Nixon; Virginia Griffin;
Horace J. Johnson; Mary Johnson; Lula O. Lock-
erd; and John C. Swan;
said action having been taken and had, for the reasons
shown in said motion, to wit: that each of said defendants
had been brought in as parties defendant through inadver-
tance and mistake or that they had transferred their
interests to others who are parties defendant herein, and
they are necessary parties defendant herein. The action
heretofore taken in these premises is hereby confirmed.
That upon motion of the plaintiff, by Order of this
Court, dated March 30, 1935, this suit and the amended
complaint herein were dismissed, as to the following
defendants, to-wit:
Henry W. Blough; John F. Brown; Fred E.
Gack; John MacGregor Goodale; Frank E. Ham-
ilton; Frederick K. Kratzka; J. T. Lewis; James F.
McManis; George W. Morrell; John O’Brien;
Margaret T. Randall; Jennie Roberts; Earl F.
Smiley; Ole H. Smith; A. W. Sydnor; M. E.
Templeton; Bert Vidans; Fannie Wallrich; W. G.
Williams; S. H. Wynn;
said action having been taken and had, for the reasons
shown in said motion on file herein — as well as from the
records herein, that; said and every of the last named
parties are not necessary parties defendant herein; that
App. 13
their lands are embraced within and constitute a part of
the San Carlos Irrigation and Drainage District; that each
of them has entered into a contract with the United
States, in relation to his land and water rights therefor
and that because of said contractual relationship his lands
have been and are designated as a part of the United
States San Carlos Indian Irrigation Project; that their and
each of their interests have been and are represented in
this cause by said District and the plaintiff and that their
and each of their water rights have been and are set up
and provided for in this decree. The action taken hereto-
fore by the Court in these premises is hereby confirmed.
Page 11
That, upon motion of the plaintiff, by Order of this
Court on the 30th day of March, 1935, this suit and the
amended complaint were dismissed as to the defendants:
Estate of Della Tharp, Edward Tharp, Administrator;
Estate of James Tharp, Edward Tharp, Administrator;
said action was taken and had pursuant to said motion on
file herein and for the reasons therein given that; the
lands and water rights thereunto belonging were by said
parties covered into the Florence-Casa Grande Project by
contract with the United States, the plaintiff herein; that
their and each of their interests have been presented to
the Court by the Florence-Casa Grande Water Users
Association and their and each of their interests have been
and are represented herein by the United States; that they
are not necessary parties defendant in this action; that
their and each of their interests are and have been set up
and provided for in this decree and given their proper
place in the Priority Schedule, a part of this decree, which
said action is hereby confirmed.
App. 14
That, upon motion duly made, by Order of this Court
dated April 3, 1935, the Kennecott Copper Corporation, a
corporation, was made a. party defendant herein, by
substitution, as the successor in interest of the Nevada
Consolidated Copper Company and the Ray Consolidated
Copper Company. The action heretofore taken in these
premises is hereby confirmed.
IV
That the following named defendants own land as
follows: Estate of Dora M. Clark, the NW1/4, Section 22,
Township 6 South, Range 7 East, Gila and Salt River Base
and Meridian; Margaret P. Brown, the SW1/4, Section 15,
Township 6 South, Range 7 East, Gila and Salt River Base
and Meridian; and H. H. McNeil, the N1/2? SE1/4, Section
9, Township 5 South, Range 9 East, Gila and Salt River
Base and Meridian; and Otis J. Baughn, 80 acres of land
in the N1/2? SW1/4 of Section 8, Township 6 South, Range
8 East, Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian; and that _
they and each of them in the past and prior to this decree, __
have made diligent and extensive efforts and have ex-
pended sums of money in an effort to secure water from
the Gila River for the irrigation of their and each of their
lands, but notwithstanding said efforts and expenditures,
they and each of them were and have been unable to make
use of said water upon their said lands and have not
acquired any right to the use of said water from the Gila
River upon their said lands, and that they and neither of
them has a right to use water from the said river for the
irrigation of their said lands as against the parties to this
cause.
App. 15
Page 12
Vv
That each of the parties named in the Schedule of_
Rights and Priorities set out below and made part hereof
(hereinafter for convenience often referred to as the
Schedule or Priority Schedule), in proper person or in the
representative capacity indicated, has acquired and owns
the right or rights accredited to him in said Schedule; that
the Gila River is the stream from which the water called
for under each of said rights is and may be diverted; that
the point of such diversion, the name or description of the
dam, canal, or other appliance through which said diver-
sion is accomplished and said waters are carried to the
lands through the irrigation of which said right has been
acquired, together with — as to individual defendants, and
plaintiff where the appropriation rights of others have
been conveyed to it as hereinafter further described — the
description of said lands and the number of irrigable acres
thereof in each quarter or quarter-quarter section, or lot or
lots as the case may be, to which said right applies, are as
stated in said schedule opposite the name of each of said
parties in appropriately designated columns thereof; that
the priority date of each of said rights is as stated for each
owner in the column ¢c< designated, and such owner is
entitled thereunder and as of the date of said priority to
divert from the natural flow of the stream, at the point of
diversion so designated and to carry and convey to, and
apply to beneficial use upon, said lands for the irrigation
thereof, during each irrigation season, a total amount of
water not exceeding 6 acre feet per each acre of said
lands, which said amount shall not be diverted from the
stream at any time during said season at a greater rate
App. 16
than one-eightieth (1/80) of a cubic foot per second for each
acre of said lands, except as hereinafter provided; that the
right of direct diversion from the natural flow of the
stream for each of said parties, therefore, may be readily
calculated; for the area then being irrigated, as follows:
No. of acres times 6 = Total allowable diversion in
acre-feet during each irrigation season;
No. of acres times 1/80 = Rate of diversion in cu-
bic feet per second which shall not be exceeded in
-making said draft;
provided, however, that the water commissioner hereinaf-
ter provided for, in order to take proper advantage of
sudden freshets or other periods of more plentiful natural
flow in the stream, may authorize and provide for, and as
to the lands of defendants above the San Carlos Reservoir
shall permit, when no injury will result to others not being
so accommodated, diversions therefrom under said rights
at a greater rate than 1/80 of a cubic foot per second, but
subject to the explicit condition that the total diversion for
the lands involved shall not exceed during the irrigation
season the said total of 6 acre feet per acre; that the right
of each of said parties, based upon the total area involved
in each instance, is stated in acre feet per irrigation
season, and in cubic feet per second (maximum rate of
diversion as aforesaid), opposite the names of said party,
respectively in the last two columns of said schedule; that
this right for each of said parties entitles him to a first and
prior call to the extent thereof upon the available natural
flow of the stream as against other whose rights as listed
in said Schedule bear later dates of priority than his own,
while others, when their rights have earlier dates of
priority than his, have a first and prior call to the extent
thereof upon said stream flow as against him; that each of
App. 17
said rights is gauged by and limited to the amount of
water which has been and can be beneficially diverted and
applied to the irrigation of said lands; that this quantity is
determined and adjudged herein to be the amount in acre-
feet per acre for the irrigation season stated above, which
shall include and be charged with all conveyance loss from
the point of diversion from the stream to the lands; that
said lands require that there be applied thereto, and
therefore diverted from the stream, somewhat larger
amounts of water in the hotter summer months of the
irrigation season than at any other times therein, of which
account is taken by providing herein for a considerably
larger diversion right than would be required at constant
even flow to produce 6 acre-feet per acre during each
irrigation season; that where the figures and data given
for a single water right priority are set opposite the names
of more than one defendant in said Schedule, each of the
same is deemed and held to have an undivided interest in
the whole there described under such mutual contractual
relations as may obtain between them, which are not
defined or determined in this decree; that certain of the
rights accredited to plaintiff in said Schedule may be
classified as rights by purchase in that they were acquired
by the United States by way of conveyances from the
owners of the private lands through the irrigation of which
they were acquired, said conveyances being made by way
of the “Agreement of Landowners to induce the Secretary
of the Interior to undertake the Florence-Casa Grande
Irrigation Project, and for the building and operation
thereof in case the same is declared feasible” and the
“Landowners Agreement with the Secretary of the Interior,
San Carlos Project, Act of June 7, 1924,” entered into by
the United States and such owners, which were executed
and put into effect under and in connection with the
App. 18
Florence-Casa Grande and San Carlos Projects; that these
rights, having priorities in great number, ranging from the
year 1868 to 1914 inclusive, are set down in their
Page 13
order in said Schedule and totaled for each year under the
name of the United States, with the description in each
instance of the lands through the irrigation of which they
were acquired by appropriation and beneficial use; also, in
an appropriate column in each instance the names of the
landowners making the conveyances, or their successors in
interest, made formal parties defendant herein, are set
down; all to the end that said rights may be identified and
preserved; that plaintiff, in accord with said agreements
and conveyances, is hereby authorized and empowered to
divert from the Gila River the waters called for under said
rights for use by irrigation upon the lands of the Florence-
Casa Grande and San Carlos Projects as hereinafter
further described; that the other rights of plaintiff, which
may be generally described as those owned by the United
States for and on account of the Indians of the Gila River
and San Carlos Indian Reservations and as reservations
and appropriations made by the United States for and on
account of the Florence-Casa Grande and San Carlos
Projects, are set down and outlined in their proper order in
said Schedule as a matter of convenience, but each of said
rights furthermore is specifically defined and decreed in
later Articles hereof; including the right of the United
States, as of the year 1924, to store the waters of the Gila
River in the San Carlos Reservoir, which is specifically
defined in Article VI and is of different character than the
rights directly to divert from the natural flow of the
stream, with which this Article of the Decree and the
Priority Schedule made part hereof primarily has to do;
App. 19
that certain of the rights of plaintiff, as same are set down
and referred to in said Schedule, do not accumulate, as is
specifically stated and described in the last paragraph of
Article VI of this decree; that also certain of the rights of
the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company, as same are
set down in said Schedule, do not accumulate, as is specifi-
cally stated in the first paragraph of Article IX hereof; that
as to all other rights to divert the waters of the Gila River
which are set down and defined in said Schedule, includ-
ing the so-called rights by purchase of the United States
(which for convenience here comes within the designation
“concern”), when rights of different priorities are ascribed
to the same person or concern, said rights as thus accred-
ited to that person or concern do accumulate, so that the
total amount of water in acre feet per season which can be
taken from the stream, under the priority of any certain
date and the priorities of previous dates (ascribed to that
person or concern in said Schedule), with the maximum
rate of diversion in cubic feet per second governing same,
may and shall be ascertained by adding together the
number of acre feet per season set down under each of said
priorities; that maximum rate at which same can be
diverted being also the sum of the maximum rates, in
cubic feet per second, given under each of said dates of
priority; that rights to divert the waters of the Gila River
are decreed to the various canal companies and are set
down under their names in the Priority Schedule as of
various dates of priority; that the description in each
instance of the lands through the irrigation of which said
rights were acquired by appropriation and beneficial use
and the names of the landowners or their successors in
interest, made formal parties defendant herein (and set
down—under the heading “PARTIES OWNING SAID
LANDS WHEN JURISDICTION ACQUIRED HEREIN”),
App. 20
whose beneficial application of water to said lands sup-
ported said appropriations are also listed under the names
of each of said canal companies, the amounts of water in
acre feet per season, with the maximum rates of diversion,
allowed for the irrigation of the various subdivisions of
said lands being given in the so-called individual columns
under the general heading “Diversion Right” in said
Priority Schedule; all to the end that the diversion rights
of said canal companies may be adequately defined, and
the individual rights of said defendant landowners to
maintain, arrange or contract for, under applicable stat-
utes and provisions of law, the diversion and carriage of
water from the stream to said lands under and in accord
with said rights may be identified and preserved; that the
irrigation season referred to in this Article of the Decree,
which shall as well apply to all rights adjudicated herein,
is hereby defined as and determined to be the period
beginning on January lst of each year and ending on
December 31st of the same year; that the Schedule above
referred to and made part hereof is as follows:
{tables of priority rights and holders]
Page 86
VI
That plaintiff has and owns rights in the waters of the
Gila River, and in and to the use of said waters, as follows:
(1) The right on behalf of the Pima and other Indians
of the Gila River Indian Reservation, their descendants,
successors and assigns, to divert 210,000 acre feet of the
waters of the Gila River during each irrigation season,
from the natural flow in said river at the Ashurst-Hayden
App. 21
and Sacaton diversion dams — as of an immemorial date of
priority and to the extent that such waters are available
under said priority — at a rate of diversion not exceeding
437.5 cubic feet per second at any time during such season
for the reclamation and irrigation of the irrigable Indian
allotments on said reservation, which amount to 49,896
acres, as they now are or hereafter may be made, and of
the administrative area on said Reservation which
amounts to 650 acres, to the extent that the herein de-
scribed water right, which is sufficient for and limited to
the needs of 35,000 acres, will reclaim and irrigate the
same. The waters available under this right and priority
shall be divided and distributed to the lands of the Flor-
ence-Casa Grande Project as decreed and provided in
subdivision (3) of this Article.
(2) The right, on behalf of the Apache and other
Indians of the San Carlos Indian Reservation, their
descendants, successors and assigns, to divert 6,000 acre
feet of the waters of the Gila River, during each irrigation
season, from the natural flow in said river at diversion
points on said river within said reservation — or above the
eastern boundary thereof under such rights of way as may
now exist or be acquired therefor; due measures being
taken to avoid injuries to other water users by said last
mentioned diversions, — as of a date of priority of the year
1846 and to the extent that such waters are available
under said priority — at a rate of diversion not exceeding
12.5 cubic feet per second at any time during such season,
for the reclamation and irrigation of 1000 acres of the
irrigable lands within the said reservation (or in part or
wholly within the valley of the Gila River above the
eastern boundary of said Reservation, if lands are there
acquired by the United States for that purpose), situated
App. 22
in the County of Graham, State of Arizona, and more
particularly described as within said reservation and that
portion of the valley of the Gila River above the San Carlos
Reservoir and flow line thereof; that said water right,
however, if or when sanctioned by law, at the discretion of
the Secretary of the Interior and with the consent of the
San Carlos Irrigation and Drainage District expressed by
its board of directors, may be purchased by or for the
benefit of the San Carlos Project and used for said project
as other of that project’s stream flow right below the San
Carlos Reservoir are or may be used under this decree,
provided, however, that such right is and shall be treated
as a project right to which no individual or individual
lands shall have or assert an interest or priority as against
any lands given rights in the Priority Schedule; and
defendants, Gila Valley Irrigation District, Virden Irriga-
tion District and Franklin Irrigation District through their
boards of directors, having offered and agreed to facilitate
the aforesaid purchase of said water right so that it may
be transferred and used as aforesaid for the benefit of the
San Carlos Project as other of that Project’s stream flow
rights are or may be used below said reservoir under this
decree and to pay the United States therefor the sum of
Sixty-Two Thousand Five Hundred ($62,500.00) Dollars,
said payments to be made by each of said Districts, in the
proportion that the number of acres of land in said district
decreed water rights herein bears to the whole number of
acres of land in said three districts’ so decreed water
rights, and to pay said sum within two years from the
acceptance of said offer, if said offer shall be accepted
within five years from the date of this decree. Said offer,
however, to be considered as made by said districts only
when all requirements of Arizona law with regard to
making binding offers of such a character shall have been
App. 23
complied with, it is hereby decreed that if said offer is
made and accepted at said purchase price sum or at any
other sum agreed upon by the said three districts and the
United States, the said water right shall be transferred as
aforesaid for the benefit of the San Carlos Project, but, in
no event shall be used or usable or be asserted as against
the lands given rights in the Priority Schedule above the
San Carlos reservoir on account of which have been paid
the full proportionate per acre share of the cost of said
purchase.
(3) The right to divert 372,000 acre feet of the waters
of the Gila River, during each irrigation season, from the
natural flow in said stream at the Ashurst-Hayden and
Sacaton diversion dams, as of the date of priority of 1916,
and to the extent that such waters are available under
said priority — at a total rate of diversion not exceeding
775 cubic feet per second at any time during such season,
for the reclamation and irrigation of the 62,000 acres of
the irrigable lands of the so-called Florence-Casa Grande
Project, or its equivalent, more particularly described as
follows:
a. The aforesaid Indian allotments now or
hereafter made on the said Indian Res-
ervation, and the said administrative
area, amounting in the aggregate to
50,546 acres to the extent that thirty-
five sixty-seconds of the herein described
water right, which is sufficient for and
limited by the needs of 35,000 acres, will
reclaim and irrigate the same.
Page 87
b. 27,000 acres of land in the private own-
ership of White persons (also referred
App. 24
to herein as “White lands”) described as
follows: [tables of “White lands”]
Page 92
That in accord with the Agreement of Land Owners to
Induce the Secretary of the Interior to Undertake the
Florence-Casa Grande Irrigation Project, etc.’ entered into
between the owners of said privately owned lands and the
United States, it is hereby further specifically ordered,
adjudged and decreed that suitable devices for measuring
the flow of water available and susceptible of being di-
verted by the aforesaid dam or dams to the canals of the
said Florence-Casa Grande Project (now a part of the San
Carlos Project system) shall be maintained and daily or
more frequent measurements of said flow shall be made;
that the first 300 cubic feet per second or less of water
flowing in the river at the said dam or dams, available as a
whole under the several rights and priorities of plaintiff,
including its immemorial right described and set up in
subdivision 1 of this article and the so-called rights by
purchase, and susceptible of being diverted for the said
project, shall be divided and distributed, less deductions
for project canal losses as hereinafter provided, sixty and
six-tenths per centum thereof to the Indian lands of said
project and thirty-nine and four-tenths per centum to the
White lands thereof; that of the next 300 second-feet of
water or less thus flowing and available, less deductions
on account of losses as aforesaid, fifty-one and seven-
tenths per centum thereof shall be apportioned to the said
Indian lands, and forty-eight and three-tenths per centum
thereof to White lands; that all water available as afore-
said in excess of said 600 second-feet shall be divided, less
deductions on account of losses as aforesaid, fifty-six and
one-tenth per centum to said Indian lands and to said
App. 25
privately owned lands, forty-three and nine tenths per
centum, except that during periods of high water when it
shall be possible and practicable to divert water for the
use of the Indian lands within said project, or some of
them, by means of the Sacaton Dam, the entire amount of
water diverted for the said project by the said Ashurst-
Hayden Dam shall be used for the irrigation of privately
owned lands and of such of said Indian lands as cannot be
adequately supplied from said Sacaton Dam; that fur-
thermore the amounts of water thus apportioned to the
White lands within said project shall be distributed to said
lands in the following order:
(a) Certain of said lands to the extent of
some 9,752.83 acres together with 790 acres in
Sections 1 and 2, Twp. 5 S., Range 8 E., G. and
S.R.B. and M., being identical with those tracts
which are described in the Schedules of Rights
and Priorities set out under Article V hereof and
identified in said article as applying to the so-
called rights by purchase of plaintiff, shali have a
call upon the waters available under such appor-
tionment in the order of their priorities as set out
in said schedule.
(b) The remainder of said lands, amounting
to some 17,247.17 acres, shall have the next
three successive calls upon such waters as are
available under such apportionment and in the
following order:
[table of priorities]
Page 98
(c) That the Secretary of the Interior or his
agents in dividing the waters of the said Flor-
ence-Casa Grande Project shall see that the
App. 26
losses of water in the whole system of project ca-
nals (now a part of the San Carlos Project Sys-
tem) are shared as equitably as may be to the
end that, with respect to such losses, no water
right under the project shall enjoy any advantage
of location, position or otherwise over any other
project water right; but losses occurring in the
Indian and private canals leading from said pro-
ject canals shall be disregarded in the division of
water hereinabove provided for; and furthermore
whenever the quantity of water diverted into the
canals of said project shall, in the aggregate, be
so small that, after deducting the losses of trans-
mission in the project canals and then dividing
the residue between the Indian lands and the
lands in private ownership as hereinabove pro-
vided for, the share allotted to the Indian rights
would be too small to reach the Indian reserva-
tion, the Secretary of the Interior, or his agent in
charge of said project, shall permit all of said wa-
ter to be applied to the irrigation of privately
owned lands in accordance with their priorities.
(4) The right to divert 603,276 acre feet of the water
of the Gila River, during each irrigation season from the
natural flow in said stream at the Ashurst-Hayden and
Sacaton Dams above described — as of the date of priority
of not later than June 7, 1924 (and for the purposes of this
decree and for them only as of said date) and to the extent
that such waters are available under said priority — at a
total rate of diversion not exceeding 1256.5 cubic feet per
second at any time during such season, for the reclamation
and irrigation of the 100,546 acres of the irrigable lands of
the San Carlos Project and for supplying water to the
State of Arizona, and towns, villages and municipalities of
that state, and federal agencies, as provided in the Act of
March 7, 1928, and in the so-called Repayment Contract
App. 27
bearing date the 8th of June, 1931 said 100,546 acres of
project lands being more particularly described as follows:
(a) 49,896 acres of land within the Gila
River Indian Reservation which have been, or
may be allotted to individuals among the Indians
thereof (also referred to herein as “Indian
Lands”), together with 650 acres within said res-
ervation comprising the School Farm, Agricul-
tural Experiment Station and Administrative
Area.
(b) 50,000 acres of land in private owner-
ship of white persons (also referred to herein as
“White Lands”), made up of such White Lands
designated to come into the San Carlos Project
by order of the Secretary of the Interior of April
25, 1928, and August 9, 1934, said designated
lands being described as follows:
Page 105
(5) The right, as of the date of priority of not later
than June 7, 1924, — and for the purpose of this decree and
for them only as of said date — to store the waters of the
Gila River in the San Carlos Reservoir of the aforesaid
San Carlos Project by means of the Coolidge Dam (said
Reservoir and Dam being situate within the San Carlos
Indian Reservation) to the extent of the full 1,285,000
acre-feet capacity of said Reservoir at all times when said
waters are available above said dam for such storage
under the aforesaid priority; and the right in that relation
to accomplish and control the release from said reservoir
of the waters so stored and thus reduced to ownership, and
to conduct the same down the channel of the Gila River to
the Ashurst-Hayden and Sacaton diversion dams of the
San Carlos Project and there to recapture and divert, and
App. 28
control the diversion of, the same by means of said dams
for conveyance in the canals leading therefrom to the
above described 100,546 acres of the lands of said Project
for the reclamation and irrigation thereof, and for the
supplementation of amounts available therefor at said
dams from the natural stream flow under plaintiffs rights
as same are decreed herein, and for State and Federal
purposes under act of March 7, 1928 as hereinbefore
described.
(6) The right, as against and only against the parties
to this cause, to divert from the Gila River 17,950 acre feet
of water, — for the irrigation of 2992.5 acres of Indian lands
at the Gila Crossing District on said Reservation — each
irrigation season at a rate of diversion not exceeding 37.4
cubic feet per second of time, from the waters occurring or
recurring in said river beginning at the point where the
Southern Pacific Railway crosses said river in Section 13,
Township 3 South, Range 4 East of Gila and Salt River
Base and Meridian or between said point and a point one
hundred feet above where the Salt River empties into the
Gila River, at the diversion points on said reservation as
now or hereafter located, as for the following dates of
priority:
For 954 acres of said lands January 1, 1873.
For 587 acres of said lands January 1, 1876.
For 660 acres of said lands January 1, 1877.
For 139 acres of said lands January 1, 1900.
For 58.5 acres of said lands January 1, 1903.
It is further provided that water rights with the
priorities fixed as aforesaid are for the irrigation of said
Gila Crossing Indian lands, but subject at all times, to all
App. 29
rights on said Gila River above said point hereinabove
described, and provided also that said rights are subject to
the right of the San Carlos project, to divert and use
return flows, or water otherwise occurring in the river
above said point and the right of said project to pump and
otherwise interfere with and control the return flow from
the lands within said project.
That certain of the foregoing rights, as listed under
items (1), (3) and (4) above are inclusive one of the other so
that diversions thereunder do not accumulate, and the
amounts in acre feet per season and cubic feet per second
stated in the 3rd item include those given in the Ist and
those stated in the 4th item include those given in the lst
and 3rd; in each instance representing the total diversion
allowable under that priority and those prior thereto as
described in said items.
VII
That all Indian lands and all white lands now or
hereinafter designated by the Secretary of the Interior as
within the San Carlos Project and under said San Carlos
Reservoir shall be entitled to share equally in all of the
stored and pumped water of said Project in so far as that
shall be physically feasible, and said lands shall share
equally in all of the water of said Project of every nature
as long as the stored and unstored water supply for said
Project shall be sufficient for Project needs, and as far as
that shall be physically feasible; but when, through lack of
stored and pumped water, there shall be an insufficient
supply of water for all of the lands of said Project lying
under said reservoir, which condition or fact shall be
determined by the Secretary of the Interior or his duly
App. 30
authorized agent, the lands so situated, in addition to
their proper share of such stored and pumped waters as
may be available to the Project, shall be entitled to and
have apportioned to them the unstored flow of the Gila
River which is available as a whole, and susceptible of
being diverted, for the Indian and White lands of the
aforesaid Florence-Casa Grande Project together with the
790 acres in Sec. 1 and 2 T.5S., R. 8 E., G. and S.R.B. and
M., hereinbefore mentioned, under and in pursuance of the
various rights and priorities of the United States decreed
herein for said lands, as follows, to-wit: said flow shall be
divided between said Indian and White lands and distrib-
uted to such lands, whether the same shall be also in-
cluded in the San Carlos Project or not, in accordance with
the apportionment and division ordered and decreed in the
third subdivision of Article VI hereof, and any surplus
which may remain and be available in said river, under
the priorities of plaintiff, for other lands (beyond those of
the Florence-Casa Grande Project and said 790 acres)
included in San Carlos Project under the priorities of
plaintiff and provisions of this decree, shall first go to such
of the Indian Lands in the San Carlos Project, and then in
equitable proportion to such of the private and public
lands thereof as are not also included in the Florence-Casa
Grande Project and said 790 acres.
Page 106
VIII -
That the diversions of water from the Gila River by
the so-called upper valleys defendants (parties defendant
to whom rights to divert water from the Gila River at
points above the San Carlos Reservoir are decreed herein),
App. 31
comprising the defendant canal companies named below,
with the parties defendant named in the Priority Schedule
and attached tables who are decreed rights through the
canals of said companies and are served thereunder, and
certain individual parties defendant who are accredited
with rights to divert directly from the stream through
private ditches, to-wit: '
Albert Canal Company, Billingsley Exten-
sion Canal Company, Black & McClerskey Canal
Company, Brown Canal Company, Colmenero
Canal Company, Colvin-Jones Canal Company,
Cosper & Windham Canal Company, Cosper &
Windham Extension Canal Company (Under con-
tract whereby Cosper & Windham Canal Com-
pany makes actual diversion) Curtis Canal
Company, Dodge-Nevada Canal Company, Dun-
can Canal Company, Fort Thomas Consolidated
Canal Company, Fourness Canal Company, Gra-
ham Canal Company, Moddle Canal Company,
Montezuma Canal Company, San Jose Canal
Company, Sexton Canal Company, Shriver Ditch
Company, Smithville Canal Company, Sunflower
Canal Company, Sunset Canal Company, Tidwell
Canal Company, Union Canal Company, Valley
Canal Company, York Canal Company, York Cat-
tle Company;
R. H. Angle, J. H. Brown, T. D. Burton, W. C.
Craufurd, J. W. Foote, R. C. Gilleland, J. H.
Henderson, C. C. Hester, F. E. Ross, R. Sexton,
Laura Short;
and/or their predecessors in interest, for the irrigation of
the lands described in said Priority Schedule made part of
Article V hereof; since their inception have been made
under rights which were and are junior and subject to
certain extensive rights of plaintiff to divert the waters of
App. 32
said stream at points below the diversions of said defen-
dants and also below the San Carlos Reservoir, which said
rights of plaintiff are set down and referred to in said
Priority Schedule, but are further identified and particu-
larly described in Article VI and VII hereof, it being
evidenced thereby that the earliest right of plaintiff is
prior in time to all and every of the rights of said defen-
dants, and certain of plaintiffs other rights are prior in
time to certain of the rights of said defendants; that,
however, plaintiff and said defendants, in recognition of
the desirability of making it practicable for said defen-
dants to carry on the irrigation of said upper valley lands
to the extent to which the areas to which their said rights
apply heretofore have been irrigated and so that the said
San Carlos Act shall inure in part to their benefit and this
suit may be compromised and settled, have agreed that
the following provisions shall be and they are hereby
embodied in this decree, which said provisions in turn, and
in so far as they affect the other parties in this cause, shall
inure to the benefit of and be binding upon them, to-wit:
(2) That on the first day of January of each Calendar
year, or as soon thereafter as there is water stored in the
San Carlos Reservoir, which is available for release
through the gates of the Coolidge Dam for conveyance
down the channel of the Gila River and for diversion and
use on the lands of the San Carlos Project for the irriga-
tion thereof, then the Water Commissioner, provided for
herein, shall, to the extent and within the limitations
hereinafter stated, apportion for the ensuing irrigation
year to said defendants from the natural flow of the Gila
River an amount of water equal to the above described
available storage, and shall permit the diversion of said
amount of water from said stream into the canals of said
App. 33
defendants for the irrigation of said upper valleys lands in
disregard of the aforesaid prior rights of plaintiff used on
lands below said reservoir; the diversion of said amount of
water by said defendants to be in accord with the priorities
as between themselves stated in said Priority Schedule
and for the irrigation of the lands covered by the rights
accredited to said defendants in said Priority Schedule and
the quantity of water permitted to be taken by said defen-
dants in disregard of prior rights of the United States
below is in addition to and not exclusive of the rights of
said defendants to take from the stream in the regular
order of their priorities as shown by the Priority Schedule,
but of course within the duty of the water limitations of
this decree; that if and when at any time or from time to
time in any year, water shall flow into said reservoir after
said date of first apportionment and shall be stored there
and become added to the available stored water in said
reservoir, the said commissioner shall make further and
additional apportionments to said defendants of the
natural flow of said stream as the same is available at the
diversion points of said defendants, which said apportion-
ments shall in turn correspond with and be equivalent in
quantity to the amount of such accessions or newly avail-
able stored water supply; that in calculating apportion-
ments of the stored water supply the Water Commissioner
shall make appropriate deductions for losses for evapora-
tion, seepage or otherwise that may be suffered between
the time of the apportionment and that of the diversion of
a corresponding quantity of water
Page 107
from the stream; that such apportionments, corresponding
with net accessions during each annual period after first
App. 34
apportionment, shall be made by said Water Commis-
sioner at least as frequently as once per calendar month
(provided accessions to stored supply have occurred during
that period) and at such more frequent intervals as the
conditions in his judgment may demand — his decisions in
these regards to be subject to summary review by the
Court as provided in Article XII hereof — and said Water
Commissioner shall see to it that his said apportionments,
when made, forthwith shall be placed of record herein and
so posted or published as to inform all interested parties in
that regard with reasonable promptness and despatch
[sic]; it being herein explicitly provided that no apportion-
ment or apportionments, made during any calendar year,
shall carry over or be available in any manner for the
succeeding year; that the diversions made by said defen-
dants of the natural flow of the Gila River thus appor-
tioned to them in disregard of the said prior rights of
plaintiff shall be regulated by the Water Commissioner
(under the authority and powers given him by this decree
and/or by such further orders of the Court as may be made
in that relation) in accord with the rights and priorities
accredited to each of said defendants in said Priority
Schedule, provided always that such diversions shall be
limited to the amount of water then apportioned, as
aforesaid, and in any event, during each irrigation season,
do not and shall not exceed the total amount of water
called for under the right accredited in said Priority
Schedule to any given defendant, namely; 6 acre feet per
acre for the irrigation season as defined in Article V
hereof; and provided further that the drafts on the stream
by the upper valleys defendants shall be limited to a
seasonal year diversion which will result in an actual
consumptive use from the stream of not to exceed 120,000
acre feet of water; said consumptive use made in any
App. 35
seasonal year shall be determined by adding the recorded
flows at a gauging station located in the Gila River at Red
Rock Box Canyon above the heading of the Sunset Canal
in New Mexico and a gauging station located in the San
Francisco River immediately above its confluence.with the
Gila River and deducting from said sum the recorded flows
at a gauging station located on the Southern Pacific
Railway bridge crossing the Gila River near Calva, Ari-
zona; and the Water Commissioner shall determine what
diversions are permissible and reduce diversions in the
inverse order of their priorities when and to the extent
necessary to accomplish the aforesaid result. The aforesaid
measurements shall include the whole flow of the stream,
including floods, at the three points of measurement, and
no allowance shall be made for accretions or additions to
the flow between the point of measurement at Red Rock
Box Canyon, and the confluence of the Gila and San
Francisco Rivers, and in turn between the confluence of
the Gila and San Francisco Rivers, and the aforesaid
gauging station at the Southern Pacific Railway bridge.
Said method of measurement is adopted as sufficiently
accurate for practical purposes and as better suited for
administering this decree than any more refined method of
determining actual consumptive use.
(3) Upon agreement made by the owner of any right
set forth in the Priority Schedule for land in the Safford
Valley water may be diverted by the owner of land in the
Duncan Valley within the duty of water in this decree set
forth and within the apportionment of water for said
Duncan Valley land in disregard of such Safford Valley
right or rights, and that such waiver shall in no way
deprive the Safford Valley lands thus waiving of their full
apportionment of water herein provided for based on
App. 36
water stored in the San Carlos Reservoir or their full right
to take from the stream, in accordance with their priority
and within the duty of water fixed by the decree as against
water rights of the United States held on account of the
San Carlos Project, but the right of the United States to
insist upon its priorities as defined and modified herein as
against Duncan Valley Lands shall not be abridged by this
provision,
(4) That water released at the will of the plaintiff
and for the purposes of the plaintiff from the San Carlos
Reservoir at any time after the date of this decree other
than for the proper irrigation of 8C,000 acres of land or its
equivalent in the San Carlos Project, shall be considered
as stored in the San Carlos Reservoir at and after the date
of such releases, and available as a basis for the above
described apportionment of the natural flow to said defen-
dants as it would be if such withdrawals had never been
made.
(5) PROVIDED ALWAYS, that if by reason of lack of
available storage in the San Carlos Reservoir no appor-
tionment of the natural flow of said river is or can be made
available to said defendants, then the diversions of said
defendants, of or as soon as apportionments previously
made to them have been consumed, shall no longer be
made in disregard of the prior rights of plaintiff below said
San Carlos Reservoir, but shall instead be made under and
in accord with the rights and priorities set down in Article
V, and the Priority Schedule made part hereof, and Article
VI of this decree to-wit: in accord with their several
priorities as same are set down in said Priority Schedule
and subject to the prior rights of plaintiff as same are
referred to therein and further described in Article VI of
this decree.
App. 37
Page 108
IX
(1) That the defendant Kennecott Copper Corpora-
tion shall be entitled, as of the dates of priority set down in
the Priority Schedule made part of Article V hereof, for
industrial, municipal, domestic and related beneficial
purposes, to divert from the underground waters of the
Gila River by means of its pumps, as same are or may be
located within the lands described in said Priority Sched- —
ule under the heading “Point of Diversion,” during the
annual period beginning January lst of each year, the
amounts of water stated in said schedule, at the rate of
diversion in cubic feet per second there given; subject,
however, to the proviso that the total amount of water
diverted and maximum rate of diversion, under the rights
for such purposes accredited to said defendant in said
Priority Schedule as of the priority dates of 1878, 1879,
1880, 1884, 1885, 1887, 1890, 1895, 1906, 1908, and 1909,
shall not exceed the quantity of water in acre feet per
annum or rate of diversion in cubic feet per second stated
for the right of 1909, to wit: 16,221 acre feet and 22.22
cubic feet per second; that the rights for industrial, mu-
nicipal, domestic and related purposes accredited to said
defendant as of the dates of priority named below were
first initiated, and thereafter perfected, by the diversion
and application of the waters of the Gila River, through
canals leading from the stream, to the irrigation of those
certain acreages of the lands described below which are set
down opposite said dates of priority, which said dates
respectively represent the year in which said acreages
were first irrigated, to-wit:
App. 38
Date of Priority NumberofAcres Area Containing Lands
Thus Irrigated
1878 65.00 SE1/4 and SE1/4
SW1/4, Section 9;
1879 95.00 $1/2? SW1/4, Section
10;
1880 130.00 NW1/4 SW1/4, 81/2?
SW1/4 and SW1/4
SE1/4, Section 14;
1884 165.00 SE1/4, NE1/4 and
NW1/4 Section 15;
1885 60.00 NE1/4 Section 16; and
1887 60.00 N1/2 NW1/4 and N1/2
NE1/4 Section 23;
1890 10.00
1895 40.00 ~
1906 15.00
1908 153.00 All in Township 5
South, Range 15 East
of the Gila and Salt
River Base & Meridian
That tL. use for irrigation under said rights, when the
pumps and plant of said defendant were put in operation
in the year 1909, was changed and transposed into uses
for industrial, municipal, domestic and related purposes,
and the waters called for under said rights and priorities,
or so much thereof as was available, since have been
diverted from the stream or the underground waters
thereof by means of the pumps of said defendant and
continuously and beneficially applied to said purposes;
App. 39
(2) That the requirements of said defendant each
year for the above described purposes demand that it
divert from the underground waters of the Gila River, in so
far as same can be made available in that relation, at the
continuous rate of ten thousand gallons per minute, or
22.22 cubic feet per second; same being equivalent by
volume measurement to a maximum of 16,221 acre feet
per annum; that prior to the construction of the San
Carlos Reservoir and the storage of water therein the
natural flow of the Gila River at and/or in the vicinity of
the reduction plant and: pumps of said defendant main-
tained an underground water plane, which when pumped
from to meet the said requirements of defendant, had
averaged an approximate minimum elevation, as gauged
at said defendant’s test well at that place, of 1920 feet
above sea level (Nevada Consolidated Copper Company
datum) and an approximate maximum elevation of 1930
feet above sea level (datum idem); that said diversions by
said defendant then were, and since to the extent under-
taken have been, made under rights which were and are
junior and subject to certain extensive rights of plaintiff to
divert the waters of the Gila River at points below the
diversions of said defendant, and also below the San
Carlos Reservoir, which said rights of plaintiff
Page 109
are set down and referred to in Article V hereof and the
Priority Schedule included therein, and further defined in
Article VI and VII hereof, it being evidenced hereby that
the early right of plaintiff is prior in time to all and every
of the rights of said defendant and certain of plaintiff’s
other rights are prior in time to certain of said defendant’s
rights and thereby are credited with dates of priority earlier
than those of said defendant; that, however, plaintiff and
App. 40
defendant by way of consent hereto, in recognition of the
desirability of making it practicable for said defendant to
continue and further carry on its operations to the extent
of its aforesaid requirements and so that this suit may be
compromised and settled, have agreed that the following
provisions shall be embodied in this decree, which said
provisions in turn, and in so far as they affect the other
parties in this cause, shall inure to the benefit of and be
binding upon them, to-wit:
(3) That said defendant shall be entitled to divert, by |
means of its said pumps as they now exist or may be
replaced, so much of the underground waters of the Gila
River as may be available at its said pumps and as will
meet its said requirements — but not to exceed the amount
of 16,221 acre feet during each annual period reckoning
from January Ist of each year as aforesaid, and limited to
a maximum rate of diversion of 10,000 gallons per minute,
viz. 22.22 cubic feet per second — in disregard of the said
prior diversions rights of plaintiff below said San Carlos
Reservoir as same are set out and defined in this decree as
aforesaid; that if during those periods when no appreciable
releases of water from the San Carlos Reservoir are being
made into the channel below the Coolidge Dam, the said
diversions of defendant by means of said pumps (limited to
the amounts required for beneficial application to the
above described industrial, municipal, domestic and
related purposes and in any event to the said 16,221 acre
feet per year and 22.22 cubic feet per second) shall cause
the pumping water plane to fall below 1920 feet above sea
level, as gauged at said test well of defendant (Nevada
Consolidated Copper Company datum), or some other
mutually agreed upon point and datum, then, if there is
any natural flow in the Gila River at the point where said
App. 41
stream enters the San Carlos Reservoir, so much thereof
(or so much as is available if the amount is insufficient) as
will bring the level of said pumping water plane, as
gauged at said test well of defendant, or other point
aforesaid, to the average of the approximate maximum
and minimum elevations aforesaid to wit: 1925 feet above
sea level (datum idem), will be allowed to flow through
said reservoir into the channel below ~ if the storage level
in said reservoir is high enough physically to permit its
release through the Coolidge Dam — said operations to be
of simultaneous character in that releases through said
Coolidge Dam, equivalent to the natural flow entering the
reservoir or such portion thereof as may be sufficient for
the above described purpose, shall be made forthwith
when it is determined (mutually by the plaintiff and
defendant, or in case of disagreement by the Water Master,
whose decision may be reviewed as provided in Article XII
hereof) that the pumping water plane, under the condi-
tions above described, has fallen below the 1920 foot level
aforesaid; that such releases of natural flow through the
Coolidge Dam shall be accomplished so as to make the
most practical and workmanlike use of the amount avail-
able for the purposes thereof; taking into consideration the
vital necessity of avoiding in so far as possible the waste of
water into the stream below the gravels in which the
pumping water plane is being maintained;
(4) That the diversions of water from the Gila River
by said defendant and its predecessors in interest for the
irrigation of the lands described in the Priority Schedule
for which said defendant is accredited rights for irrigation
as of the dates of priority of 1908, 1916, and 1926, since
their inception have been made under rights which were
and are junior and subject to those certain and extensive
App. 42
rights of plaintiff to divert the waters of said stream at
points below the said diversions of defendant; which said
rights of plaintiff are set down and referred to in Article V
hereof and the Priority Schedule included therein and are
further defined in Article VI and VII hereof; it being
evidenced thereby that the early right of plaintiff is prior
in time to all and every of the rights of said defendant and
certain of plaintiff's other rights are prior in time to
certain of said defendant’s rights, and thereby are accred-
ited with priorities which are earlier than the aforesaid
rights of defendant; that, however, plaintiff and defendant,
by way of consent hereto and in recognition of the desir-
ability of making it practicable, in so far as possible, for
said defendant to carry on the irrigation of its said lands
to the extent of the acreages to which its said rights of
1908, 1916 and 1926 apply, and so that this suit may be
compromised and settled, have agreed that the following
provisions shall be embodied in this decree, which said
provisions in turn, and in so far as they affect the other
parties in this cause, shall inure to the benefit of and be
binding upon them, to-wit:
Page 110
(5) That when, under the rule and method of appor-
tionment stated in Article VIII of this decree, there is
apportioned to the so-called upper valleys water users
amounts of water from the natural flow of the Gila River
corresponding with the available storage in the San Carlos
Reservoir, then there also shall be apportioned to the
defendant Kennecott Copper Corporation, from the natu-
ral flow of said river as hereinafter defined, for the irriga-
tion of its said lands, an amount of water per acre thereof
corresponding with the amount per acre apportioned
to said upper valleys as aforesaid; and thereupon, said
App. 43
defendant shall be entitled to divert — in disregard of the
said prior diversion rights of plaintiff below as same are
set out and defined in this decree as aforesaid — at the
points of diversions and by means of the ditches ascribed
to it in the Priority Schedule, so much of the natural flow
of the Gila River, limited always to the amount of water
then apportioned to it as aforesaid, as can be beneficially
applied to the irrigation of the lands to which said rights
apply; said diversions as of course to be limited in any
event to the amounts of water in acre feet per irrigation
season and rates of diversion in cubic feet per second
stated for said rights in the Priority Schedule; that in as
much as the waters flowing in the Gila River at defen-
dant’s said points of diversion, during a great portion of
the irrigation season, will be made up in large measure of
stored water which has been released from the San Carlos
Reservoir and is being piloted down the stream channel to
the diversion dams and distributing canals of the San
Carlos Project, the natural flow available as aforesaid to
said defendant, under the limitations of said apportion-
ment, shall be gauged by and deemed to correspond with
the natural flow of the Gila River and San Carlos River at
the points where said streams enter the San Carlos
Reservoir, plus such contributions thereto between the
Coolidge Dam and said diversion points of defendant as
may occur, but subject to such drafts upon such total as
may be made by owners of rights of diversion under this
decree prior to said rights of defendant (if any there are)
between said Coolidge Dam and said diversion points of
defendant.
(6) PROVIDED ALWAYS, that the foregoing provi-
sions of this Article IX are hereby explicitly made subject
to the proviso that whenever under Article VIII hereof, by
App. 44
reason of lack of available storage in the San Carlos
Reservoir and the consumption of previous apportion-
ments thereunder, no apportionment of the natural flow of
said river is or can be made available to the so-called
upper valleys defendants in disregard of the prior rights of
plaintiff below said reservoir, and therefore diversions by
said defendants and plaintiff are required to be made
under and in accord with the rights and priorities set
down in Article V (and the Priority Schedule therein) and
VI of the decree, then the diversions of defendant, as
against all the other parties in this cause, whether for
industrial, municipal, domestic and related purposes as
described in subdivisions (1) to (3) above — or for irrigation
as described in subdivisions (4) and (5) if or when its
apportionment in that relation also has been consumed —
shall be subject to and be made in accord with its priorities
as same are stated in the Priority Schedule and not
otherwise, saving and excepting only that its diversions for
said industrial, municipal, domestic and related purposes
as against plaintiffs prior rights of diversion below shall
still be regulated and controlled as provided in subdivi-
sions (2) and (3) of this Article; subject to the further
proviso, however, that the natural flow of the Gila River as
measured where it enters the San Carlos Reservoir, or
drafts upon it in conformity with priorities against later
rights above, will not be available in any event below said
reservoir unless the storage level therein is sufficiently
high to permit its release through the Coolidge Dam. It is
further provided that the pumped diversions of said
defendant when being made under subdivisions (2) and (3)
of this Article, at times of greater peak loads, may exceed
by 10% the rate of 22.22 cubic feet per second stated
above, if water therefor is available at said pumps, but
that the total diversions for any year (January lst to
App. 45
December 31st inclusive) in such event shall still be
limited to 16,221 acre feet.
Page 111
x
(1) That the diversions of water from the Gila River
by defendants Joseph J. Anderson, Grady L. Herring and
T. H. B. Glasspie, and their predecessors in interest for the
irrigation of the lands described in the Priority Schedule
made part of Article V hereof, for which said defendants
are accredited rights for irrigation as of the dates of
priority named in said schedule, since their inception have
been made under rights which were and are junior and
subject to those certain and extensive rights of plaintiff to
divert the waters of said stream at points below the said
diversions of defendants; which said rights of plaintiff are
set down and referred to in Article V hereof and the
Priority Schedule included therein and are further identi-
fied in Articles VI and VII hereof, and thereby are accred-
ited with priorities which are earlier than the aforesaid
rights of defendants; that, however, plaintiff and said
defendants, by way of consent hereto and in recognition of
the desirability of making it practicable in so far as possi-
ble for said defendants to carry on the irr’ zation of their
said lands to the extent of the acreages to which their said
rights apply and so that this suit may be compromised and
settled, have agreed that the following provisions shall be
embodied in this decree, which said provisions in turn, and
in so far as they affect the other parties in this cause, shall
inure to the benefit of and be binding upon them, to wit:
(2) That when, under the rule and method of appor-
tionment stated in Article VIII of this decree, there is
App. 46
apportioned to the so-called upper valleys water users
amounts of water from the natural flow of the Gila River
corresponding with the available storage in the San Carlos
Reservoir, then there also shall be apportioned to said
defendants, from the natural flow of said river as hereinaf-
ter defined, for the irrigation of their said lands, an
amount of water per acre thereof corresponding with the
amount per acre apportioned to said upper valleys as
aforesaid; and thereupon; said defendants shall be entitled
to divert — in disregard of the said prior diversion rights of
plaintiff below as same are set out and defined in this
decree as aforesaid — at the points of diversion and by
means of the ditches ascribed to them in the Priority
Schedule, so much of the natural flow of the Gila River,
limited always to the amount of water then apportioned to
them as aforesaid, as can be beneficially applied to the
irrigation of the lands to which their said rights apply;
said diversions as of course to be limited in any event to
the amounts of water in acre feet per irrigation season and
rates of diversion in cubic feet per second stated for said
rights in the Priority Schedule; that in as much as the
waters flowing in the Gila River at defendants’ said points
of diversion, during a great portion of the irrigation
season, will be made up in large measure of stored water
which has been released from the San Carlos Reservoir
and is being piloted down the stream channel to the
diversion dams and distributing canals of the San Carlos
Project, the natural flow available as aforesaid to said
defendants, under the limitations of said apportionment,
shall be gauged by and deemed to correspond with the
natural flow of the Gila River at the point where said
stream enters the San Carlos Reservoir, plus such contri-
butions thereto between the Coolidge Dam and said
diversion points of defendants as may occur, but subject to
App. 47
such drafts upon such total as may be made by owners of
rights of diversion under this decree prior to said rights of
defendants (if any there are) between said Coolidge Dam
and said diversion points of defendants.
‘ (3) PROVIDED ALWAYS, that the foregoing provi-
sions of this Article X are hereby explicitly made subject to
the proviso that whenever under Article VIII hereof, by
reason of lack of available storage in the San Carlos
Reservoir and the consumption of previous apportion-
ments thereunder, no apportionment of the natural flow of
said river is or can be made available to the so-called
upper valleys defendants in disregard of the prior rights of
plaintiff below said reservoir, and therefore diversions by
said defendants and plaintiff are required to be made
under and in accord with the rights and priorities set
down in Article V (and the Priority Schedule therein) and
VI of the Decree, then the diversions of the defendants
above named, as against all the other parties in this cause
— if or when their apportionment in that relation also has
been consumed — shall be subject to and be made in accord
with their priorities as same are stated in said Priority
Schedule and not otherwise; subject to the further proviso,
however, that the natural flow of the Gila River, as meas-
ured where it enters the San Carlos Reservoir, will not be
available below said reservoir on occasions when the
. storage level therein is not sufficiently high to permit its
release through the Coolidge Dam.
Page 112
XI
That the lands within the Gila River watershed for
the irrigation of which rights are decreed herein are arid
App. 48
or semi-arid in character and require irrigation in order
that crops of value may be produced thereon; that except
as herein specifically provided no diversion of water from
the natural flow of the stream into any ditch or canal for
direct conveyance to the lands shall be permitted as
against any of the parties herein except in such amount as
shall be actually and reasonably necessary for the benefi-
cial use for which the right of diversion is determined and
established by this Decree, to-wit: shall be made only at
such times as the water is needed upon their lands and
only in such amounts as may be required under the
provisions hereof for the number of acres then being
irrigated; that in cases where by this Decree water is
allowed to be diverted by and through any ditch by the
owner thereof for another party, the terms of the contrac-
tual relations existing between them are not intended to
be determined herein; that whenever the total area under
a particular canal is decreed more than one water right,
each having the same or different priorities or in its
different parts having different rights and priorities, the
total area may have used upon it all of its several rights in
the order of their priorities, subject only to the require-
ment that no greater net draft on the stream be made than
if each right in the order of its priority were used only on
the particular lands for which it was originally acquired or
reserved; that rotation, which is a well known, recognized
and effective practice in irrigation administration (consti-
tuting in effect the combining of flows allowed to be
diverted from a given stream under two or more rights so
as to provide for the alternate use of more adequate
irrigation heads as between neighboring or other ditches
taking from such stream), shall be permitted at «il times
and shall be required whenever necessary in order to
obtain reasonable economies in the use of water or in order
App. 49
to give to each ditch or water user a more advantageous
method of irrigation, providing that such rotation shall not
injuriously affect any of the rights determined or allowed
by this decree; that the Water Commissioner provided for
herein shall arrange for and enforce such rotation, but
shall consult with, and endeavor to obtain the agreements
of, such water users as in his judgment should resort
thereto, and shall embody his action in this regard into
such reports as he may make or be required to make to the
Court herein; that if no valid objection thereto be made by
other water users, an owner of any right decreed herein,
when the allowable diversion thereunder in the judgment
of the Water Commissioner does not constitute an ade-
quate irrigation head for his lands, may with or without
agreement for rotation, when permitted by said Water
Commissioner, divert a larger head or flow into his ditch
for short periods of time in lieu of the smaller flow allowed
to him under his said right providing always that such use
shall not exceed for the irrigation season the amount in
acre-feet herein specified and allowed to be diverted from
the stream for his lands; that appropriations and priorities
of the same date rank as having rights of the same stand-
ing, and as having a simultaneous call upon the stream
source in the proportion which said rights, as decreed
herein, bear to each other in amounts entitled to be
diverted thereunder; that any of the parties to whom
rights to water have been decreed herein shall be entitled,
in accord with applicable laws and legal principles, to
change the point of diversion and the places, means,
manner or purpose of the use of the waters to which they
are so entitled or of any part thereof, so far as they may do
so without injury to the rights of other parties as the same
are defined herein.
App. 59
XII
That a Water Commissioner shall be appointed by this
Court to carry out and enforce the provisions of this
decree, and the instructions and orders of the Court, and if
any proper orders, rules or directions of such Water
Commissioner, made in accordance with and for the
enforcement of this decree, are disobeyed or disregarded
he is hereby empowered and authorized to cut off the
water from the ditch then being used by the person so
disobeying or disregarding such proper orders, rules or
directions; promptly reporting to the Court his said action
in such case and the circumstances connected therewith
and leading thereto; that whenever the necessities of the
situation appear to the Court so to require, the Court shall
authorize the employment by the Water Commissioner of
such person or persons to assist that officer as to the Court
may seem necessary to carry out properly the provisions of
this decree and the orders of the Court; that the term of
employment, expenses and compensation of said Water
Commissioner and his assistants, the payment thereof and
the means and methods for securing funds with which to
pay the same, shall be fixed by orders which the Court
may hereafter from time to time make; that any person,
feeling aggrieved by any action or order of the Water
Commissioner, in writing and under oath, may complain to
the Court, after service of a copy of such complaint on the
Water Commissioner, and the Court shall promptly review
such action or order and make such order as may be
proper in the premises; that the owner or owners of each
ditch or canal herein authorized to divert water from the
natural flow of the Gila River for direct conveyance to and
irrigation of lands, unless specifically excused by the Court
or Water Commissioner, shall at his own expense install
App. 5”
and at all times maintain at any appropriate place at or
near the head of said ditch,
Page 113
a reliable and readily operated regulating headgate and a
measuring box, flume or other device which may be looked
and set in position — the same to be approved by the Water
Commissioner — so that the water diverted into said ditch
or canal at any and all times may be regulated and meas-
ured; that upon failure of any owner or owners to install
structures of the above described character on or before
one year from the date of this decree or on or before such
different day as the Court or Water Commissioner shall
set or determine — after due notice from the Water Com-
missioner so to do — the said Water Commissioner is
herein authorized to cut off diversions of water into said
ditch or canal until such devices and structures shall be
installed and maintained.
XIII
That each and all of the parties to whom rights to
water are decreed in this cause (and the persons, estates,
interests and ownerships represented by such thereof as
are sued in a representative capacity herein), their assigns
and successors in interest, servants, agents, attorneys and
all persons claiming by, through or under them and their
successors, are hereby forever enjoined and restrained
from asserting or claiming — as against any of the parties
herein, their assigns or successors, or their rights as
decreed herein — any right, title or interest in or to the
waters of the Gila River, or any thereof, except the rights
specified, determined and allowed by this decree, and each
and all thereof are hereby perpetually restrained and
App. 52
enjoined from diverting, taking or interfering in any way
with the waters of the Gila River or any part thereof, so as
in any manner to prevent or interfere with the diversion,
use or enjoyment of said waters of the Gila River or any
part thereof, so as in any manner to prevent or interfere
with the diversion, use or enjoyment of said waters by the
owners of prior or superior rights therein as defined and
established by this Decree; that nothing herein shall
prejudice the rights of any of the parties hereto or of their
grantees, assigns or successors in interest, under any
transfer or legal succession in interest after the com-
mencement of this action, to any of the rights hereby
adjudicated; that except as hereinbefore mentioned or
otherwise stated, the provisions of this Decree shall bind,
and inure to the benefit of, the grantees, assigns and
successors in interest of the owners of rights and parties
hereto, whether substituted as parties or appearing in this
case or named herein or not; that the several parties to
this suit shall pay their own costs in this action
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