Archuleta v. Gomez

Plaintiff, Ralph L. Archuleta, appeals the district court’s judgment dismissing his complaint to enjoin defendant, Theodore Gomez, from interfering with his water rights and for damages resulting from interference with those rights. Archuleta also appeals the district court’s ruling that Gomez adversely possessed those water rights. We conclude that this dispute in part addresses the right to use water and to that extent it is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the water court. We affirm that portion of the judgment regarding Archuleta’s claim for damages resulting from flooding and vacate…