J. & W. C. Shull, Inc. v. Merced Irrigation District

The plaintiff as the owner of 1,260 acres of land situated within the Merced Irrigation District in the county of Merced, filed a petition with the board of directors of the Merced Irrigation District for the exclusion of said 1,260 acres of land from such irrigation district upon the ground that said land was not susceptible of irrigation from the source chosen or the system of irrigation adopted by said district, and, further, that the lands were not adapted to irrigation and would not be benefited thereby. The petition for exclusion filed by the plaintiff with the said irrigation district described all the lands included within the said 1,260 acres, by sections, quarter-sections, etc., but asked for the exclusion of the entire tract without specifying the particular section, quarter-section, or smaller tracts that would not be benefited by irrigation or that were not susceptible of irrigation. The theory upon which the petition was filed was that the entire tract should be excluded. Upon the hearing before the board of directors of the irrigation district the testimony disclosed the fact that at least 325 acres lying within the boundaries of the 1,260 acres were above the water…