King v. St. Clair

By the Court, STIGLICH, J.:

This case concerns respondent Rodney St. Clair's entitlement to water rights connected to a property that he purchased in 2013. Upon finding an abandoned well on the property, St. Clair applied to the State Engineer for a permit to temporarily change the point of diversion of the underground water source from that well to another location on his property. To support that application, St. Clair submitted a Proof of Appropriation, in which he claimed that a prior owner of the property had established a vested right to the underground water source. In ruling on St.…