Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District v. Mussell, 139 Idaho 28

Summary

The Idaho Supreme Court held that property owners were liable for unreasonably interfering with an irrigation district's easement after excavating the bank supporting an irrigation lateral. The court upheld use of reasonable repair costs as the measure of damages, subject to specified reductions on remand, and affirmed denial of treble damages because the conduct did not constitute cutting the ditch bank within the meaning of Idaho Code § 42-902. No attorney fees or costs were awarded on appeal.

Holdings

1. A servient-estate owner may use the property in any manner that is not inconsistent with or materially interferes with the dominant estate owner's use of its easement. The Mussells' excavation, which left the Kennedy Lateral vulnerable to failure when filled with water, was an unreasonable interference with the District's easement and supported liability for damages.
2. Under the circumstances, the reasonable cost of repairing or restoring the Kennedy Lateral so that it could transmit water was the proper measure of damages, rather than the diminution in the market value of the easement.
3. The District could recover the reasonable value of employee labor, equipment use, pipeline construction, bridge reconstruction, and necessary pipeline extensions used to restore the lateral, even when the District used its own personnel and equipment rather than outside contractors.
4. Idaho Code section 42-902 is penal and must be strictly construed. The phrase 'cuts any ditch or the banks thereof' means cutting through the bank of a ditch, ordinarily to cause water to run out; excavating and reshaping the sloping bank without cutting through it does not satisfy the statute.
5. Neither party was entitled to attorney fees on appeal because neither the appeal nor cross-appeal was brought or defended frivolously, unreasonably, or without foundation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Mussells were liable for damages resulting from their excavation along the Kennedy Lateral.
2. Whether the reasonable cost of repairing or replacing the lateral was the proper measure of damages.
3. Whether the evidence supported the various components of the district court's damage award.
4. Whether the District was entitled to treble damages under Idaho Code section 42-902.
5. Whether either party was entitled to attorney fees on appeal under Idaho Code section 12-121.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded