In Re the Adjudication of the Existing Rights to the Use of All the Water Both Surface & Underground, Within the Dearborn Drainage Area

We hold here that the Water Court was correct in determining on August 27, 1987, that the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (DFWP) does not have a valid pre-1973 appropriation water right claim to the in-lake or in-stream waters of Bean Lake, situated in the Dearborn River Drainage area.

Bean Lake is a natural pothole lake, lying across the four common corners of Sections 13 and 14, Township 18 North, Range 7 West, and Sections 18 and 19, Township 18 North, Range 6 West, M.P.M. There is no defined water inlet to Bean Lake. Its sources are ground water seepage and run-off from…