Bruegman v. Johnson Ranches, Inc.

Appellee, Johnson Ranches, Inc., filed petitions for declarations of abandonment of certain water rights of appellants Bruegman and Loomis based upon the grounds of nonuse. 1 Appellants have each appealed from the respective judgments of the district court which affirmed orders of the State Board of Control granting appel-lee’s petitions for abandonment. 2

The appellants’ predecessors acquired the lands to which the water rights applied through operation of an Act of Congress commonly known as the Carey Act. The Federal Act granted an additional one million acres, described as desert lands, to…