Beckwith

Plaintiff Otay Water District (Otay) sued adjacent property owners defendants Warren W. Beckwith, Donald F. Wall and others, seeking to quiet title to a prescriptive easement. Defendants cross-claimed for inverse condemnation, ejectment, and fraud. After Otay successfully moved for summary judgment, the court entered judgment against defendants on the complaint and cross-complaint. Only Beckwith appeals contending the court erred in granting Otay a prescriptive easement and in dismissing with prejudice his suit for inverse condemnation. We affirm the judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background

On January 12, 1962, Kuebler Ranch, Inc. conveyed to Otay real property located in Otay Mesa. Unknown to the parties, the grant deed covered three additional parcels of property not owned by Kuebler at the time. Kuebler had prepared the grant deed based upon a survey by Boyle Engineering.

Pursuant to the Boyle survey and the Kuebler deed, Otay commenced construction of a reservoir on the property in 1962 completing it in early 1963. The net result was that Otay built the reservoir on a portion of the adjacent properties. In 1963 Otay constructed a chain link fence around the…