Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District v. Zinzer

DEIRUP, J. pro tem.

Plaintiff brought this action to quiet title to a parcel.of land in Shasta County described as follows :

“Commencing at the southerly end of the dam of the Anderson, Cottonwood Irrigation District at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the intake canal of said District; thence in an easterly direction, following the water line of the Sacramento River to the point of the confluence of the Sacramento River and the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District Canal; thence in a general westerly direction along the northerly bank of said Canal to the point of beginning;

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excepting therefrom so much thereof as belongs to the State of California for highway purposes; containing six acres, more or less.”

It is alleged in the complaint that the plaintiff is a public corporation; that it is now, and for a long time has been the owner and in possession of the land; that the land constitutes, and for many years has constituted a part of the operative property of plaintiff as an essential part of its intake canal; that the defendant has occupied a portion of the premises, and, without right, asserts an interest. The answer admits that plaintiff is a public corporation, and that defendant claims an interest, but alleges that he is the owner of the land, and that the action is barred by the statute of limitations. The trial court found for plaintiff, and defendant appealed.

Resolving conflicts in the evidence in favor of the findings of the court, it appears that the land is an island in the sense that the water in the Sacramento River and the canal surround it but that it has not been a natural island in the river for many years, if ever. It was a part of the mainland, but was cut off by a high slough through which water flowed only at times of high flood. This slough was deepened by a former owner for irrigation purposes, and was known as the “Wheel Ditch.” However, the land was called an island, and it is convenient to designate it in this manner. It lies in an easterly and westerly direction, relatively narrow in comparison with its width, and is of little value for farming.

Plaintiff acquired the land from John Diestelhorst in 1916, for the purpose of taking water from the Sacramento River and conducting it through a canal to the mouth of a tunnel; thence to the irrigable lands within the district. It constructed a dam across the river with one end at the westerly point of the island to divert the water, dug a canal along line of the “Wheel Ditch,” and built a diversion dam and headgates in the canal near the easterly point of the island, and a tunnel to convey the water into the distribution system. The lower end of the canal, between the headgates and the river serves as a spillway to release excess water into the river. The island has been an essential part of plaintiff’s distribution system ever since the works were completed in 1917. The land has been a barrier between the river and the canal, and a means of ingress to, and egress from, the various structures for the