Hagemann

On this appeal we decide whether Water Code section 22098 obligates an irrigation district to provide or contribute toward drainage for the benefit of land outside the district to alleviate damage caused by irrigation conducted on land within the district. We begin this opinion with an oversimplification of facts bearing on this issue.

Plaintiffs’ farm is reclaimed land bordering a river. Water originating from irrigation of nearby privately owned land flows underground toward the river, raising the water table and adversely affecting plaintiffs’ farm. The defendant irrigation district (District) supplies the offending water to the landowners in the district. Plaintiffs are not district taxpayers, as their land is outside the district boundaries.

Plaintiffs sought and obtained a declaratory judgment that District has a duty to protect plaintiffs’ land from irrigation water flowing underground toward the river beyond the district boundaries and that District may satisfy that duty by paying 15 percent of the costs of draining plaintiffs’ land. District appeals from that portion of the judgment.

We are not dealing with ordinary principles of law applicable to the…