Rancho Pauma Mutual Water Co. v. Yuima Municipal Water District

Rancho Pauma Mutual Water Company (Rancho Pauma) filed a petition to enforce a water rights judgment against the Yuima Municipal Water District (the District) entered about 60 years earlier. The District appeals the trial court’s order, contending the trial court misunderstood subsequent amendments to the judgment and improperly limited the amount of water the District could withdraw. Rancho Pauma contends the appeal should be dismissed as the order is not appealable. We reject Rancho Pauma’s argument regarding appealability of the order. We also reject the District’s arguments and affirm the order.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 1950, six plaintiffs (the Strub Plaintiffs) who owned parcels of land in Pauma Valley sued the owner of a nearby parcel of land, known as the Rincon Ranch, as well as the water company, Palomar Mutual Water Company (Palomar), that held and controlled all of the water rights to the Rincon Ranch. The Strub Plaintiffs sought to limit the defendants’ right to draw groundwater from a defined portion of a groundwater basin beneath Pauma Valley, which the parties refer to as the Strub zone. The Strub Plaintiffs alleged that the Rincon Ranch…