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Thayer v. City of Rawlins

594 P.2d 951 (1979)

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Thayer v. City of Rawlins

Wyoming Supreme Court
594 P.2d 951 (1979)

Facts

The City of Rawlins (the city) (plaintiff) imported water from the North Platte River and one of the river’s tributaries for municipal water services. The city discharged the effluent from the water supply via a channel known as Sugar Creek. Several parties (Sugar Creek appropriators) (defendants) diverted water from Sugar Creek below the city’s discharge point for irrigation, stock water, and other uses. As state and federal environmental laws changed, the city was required to comply with new water-discharge standards. To comply with the environmental standards, the city proposed a lagoon to aerate and treat the discharge before returning the water at a new discharge point on Sugar Creek below the Sugar Creek appropriators’ diversion points. The Sugar Creek appropriators contended that given the many years of using Sugar Creek as an effluent path, the creek had become a natural stream, and, therefore, the Sugar Creek appropriators were entitled to compensation for losing their water rights. The city filed an action seeking a declaratory judgment that the Sugar Creek appropriators were not entitled to compensation for eliminating their ability to divert water from Sugar Creek. The trial court granted judgment in favor of the city, and the Sugar Creek appropriators appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Rose, J.)

Dissent (Rooney, J.)

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