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MMLU / A rancher is the owner of a ranch situated upon the top of a mountain. Located…

Problem

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question

A rancher is the owner of a ranch situated upon the top of a mountain. Located below the ranch is a 40-acre farm that is owned by a farmer. There is a stream, which is a non-navigable watercourse, that originates at the top of the mountain and runs all the way down into the valley below. Both the ranch and the farm are within the watershed of the stream. When the farmer purchased the farm in 1974, he began taking water from the stream and used it to irrigate the southern half of his property which he has used as a farm. Prior to 1974, the southern half of the farm had been cleared and placed in cultivation, while the northern half remained wooded and unused except for an occasional hike or gathering of timber for use as domestic fuel. The farmer continued this established pattern of use. Now (January 2010), he is still taking water from the stream and using it to irrigate the southern half of the farm. In 2008, the rancher built a home on the ranch and began taking water from the stream for domestic purposes. During that year there was heavy rainfall, and this caused the stream to run down the mountain at a high water level. The next year, however, there was a drought. As a result, the stream flowed at a very low level. Consequently, there was only enough water to irrigate the farmer's farmland or, in the alternative, to supply all of the rancher's domestic water needs and one quarter of the farmer's irrigation requirements. The mountain is located in a jurisdiction where the period of prescription is 15 years. Inasmuch as the stream is still flowing at a very low level and the rancher is continuing to take water for his personal needs, there is insufficient water to irrigate the farm. As a consequence, the farmer brings an appropriate action to declare that his water rights to the stream are superior to those of the rancher. In addition, the farmer moves to have the full flow of the stream passed to him, notwithstanding the effect it might have on the rancher. If this state follows the doctrine of prior appropriation, judgment should be for whom?

choices

  1. The rancher, because as an upstream landowner, he would have superior rights to the water than a downstream owner.
  2. The rancher, because domestic use is superior to and protected against an agricultural use.
  3. The farmer, because he has obtained an easement by prescription to remove as much water as he may need.
  4. The farmer, because he has put the water to a beneficial use prior to the rancher's use and has continuously used the water.

subject

professional_law

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Source and history

task_id
640a7014-6b0d-5354-b400-47e85ced617e
task_key
all--test--640a7014-6b0d-5354-b400-47e85ced617e
task_revision_id
1
config / split
all / test

Official source

initial import