Nelson v. Big Lost River Irrigation District

EISMANN, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal by water users within an irrigation district from a judgment of the district court determining that water lost when the district uses a section of river to convey its water to downstream diversion points for distribution to water users in the district must be allocated pro rata among those water users. We affirm the judgment of the district court.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Big Lost River Irrigation District was formed in 1920 to deliver irrigation water to its members who had decreed water rights. In 1936, it purchased the Mackay Dam and…