Court Exceeds Jurisdiction in Updating Decree: Fid-Bau Portal

Court Exceeds Jurisdiction in Updating Decree

In 1902, 27 water rights were decreed in Carlton Creek, Montana, specifying the owners' names, the flow rate, the priority date, and, in some instances, the ditch used to convey the water. The 1902 decree was fragile‐the paper was brittle, the ink was faded, and the pages were tattered. The decree had been folded for 94 years; opening and using it would risk more damage. In January 1989, several judges authorized an updated decree to supersede all prior documents and ordered the court clerk to put the old decree in archives. The updated decree was entered in April 1989. Tim Lien and Katherine Jones, husband and wife, bought their property and water rights in the Carlton tracts in 1986. They were not notified about the order authorizing an updated decree. They sought unsuccessfully to have it set aside. The appellate court noted that the updated decree, although not specifically directing that the 1902 decreed rights be readjudicated, was a de facto adjudication of water rights. The court pointed out that the order decreed the ownership, priority dates, flow rate, place of use, and means of diversion of the owners' rights. Thus, the court said the district court had exceeded its jurisdiction, which in those instances is limited to the Water Court. The district court decree was reversed, and the updated decree was set aside.