Enright

This is an action to condemn the waters of Laguna Creek, a small stream in Santa Cruz County, for the purpose of supplying the wants of plaintiff and its inhabitants. The defendant Enright is the owner of a tract of land lying below the point of the ■proposed diversion, and bounded on the northwest for about three miles by the creek. The defendant Enright claims that there is neither any authority nor any necessity for the exercise of the power of eminent domain; but that if such authority exist, he is entitled to compensation for the injury he will sustain, not only as a riparian proprietor, but as a prior appropriator and owner by prescription. The jury found in favor of the plaintiff on the main issues, and assessed the defendant Enright’s compensation at eight thousand dollars, and the damages to be paid to each of the other defendants who claimed some interest in the property at one dollar.

The defendants Enright and Sylva moved for a new trial, the motion was denied, and they have appealed from the order and from the judgment.

It may be conceded, for the purposes of this decision, that the charter of the city of Santa Cruz confers no authority upon the municipal…