Hall v. Springville City

CourtListener 10641968Utahctapp25 de jul. de 2025

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Texto completo

2025 UT App 115

THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS

KYLE R. HALL, BRIAN A. HINTZE, AND KELLI HINTZE,
Appellants,
v.
SPRINGVILLE CITY, CENTRAL UTAH WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT,
SPRINGVILLE IRRIGATION COMPANY, AND UTAH STATE ENGINEER,
Appellees.

Opinion
Nos. 20220794-CA; 20220795-CA
Filed July 25, 2025

Third District Court, Salt Lake Department
The Honorable Laura Scott
No. 365729804

Jamie Carpenter, Attorney for Appellants
J. Craig Smith, Kathryn J. Steffey, Jeffry R. Gittins,
Jennie B. Garner, and John A. Penrod,
Attorneys for Appellee Springville City
Steven E. Clyde, Emily E. Lewis, and Nathaniel E.
Broadhurst, Attorneys for Appellee Central Utah
Water Conservancy District
Riley S. Snow, Attorney for Appellee
Springville Irrigation Company
Sarah M. Shechter and Gordon H. Rowe,
Attorneys for Appellee Utah State Engineer

JUDGE RYAN M. HARRIS authored this Opinion, in which
JUDGES GREGORY K. ORME and JOHN D. LUTHY concurred.

HARRIS, Judge:

¶1 Appellants Kyle R. Hall, Brian A. Hintze, and Kelli Hintze
(collectively, Claimants) claim to own water rights associated
with two parcels of land in Hobble Creek Canyon. After the Utah
Hall v. Springville City

State Engineer (State Engineer) issued a proposed determination
substantiating Claimants’ water rights, Springville City (the City)
objected, claiming that it owned the water rights in question.
Eventually, the district court entered summary judgment in the
City’s favor, concluding—pursuant to facts it considered
undisputed—that Claimants’ predecessors had conveyed to the
City “all water rights” associated with the relevant parcels. In
separate appeals that we consider together in this opinion,
Claimants challenge the court’s summary judgment order and
assert that genuine issues of material fact remain for decision by
a factfinder. We disagree with Claimants’ assertions, and we
therefore affirm the court’s order.

BACKGROUND 1

The Parcels

¶2 This case concerns water rights connected to two parcels of
real property: the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch, both
located in Hobble Creek Canyon in Utah County, Utah. Oscar
Anderson first settled the Anderson Ranch—also known as
“Special Section 57”—in 1890, before Utah became a state. At an
even earlier date (perhaps as early as 1879), Erastus Clark settled
the Clark Ranch—also known as “Special Section 54.” Both
Anderson and Clark made various improvements to the parcels,
including erecting structures (e.g., houses), as well as diverting
water and cultivating crops. Eventually, Anderson and Clark each
obtained a “land patent” for his parcel from the federal
government, giving them fee-simple ownership of the parcels.

1. When reviewing a district court’s order granting summary
judgment, we “recite the facts in the light most favorable to the
non-moving party.” Burton v. Chen, 2023 UT 14, ¶ 5 n.2, 532 P.3d
1005 (cleaned up).

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Most important for present purposes, all parties to these appeals
agree that, prior to 1903, both Anderson and Clark appropriated
water for use on the parcels.

¶3 Clark later conveyed the Clark Ranch to his wife, and in
1926, she conveyed the land to their son, John Hazel Clark.
Anderson died intestate in 1926, but by 1937 his wife Mary Ellen
Anderson had been deemed the administrator of his estate and
had also received title to the Anderson Ranch.

¶4 Before 1928, the City had managed the distribution of
irrigation water to some parcels of land, including the Anderson
Ranch and the Clark Ranch. However, by 1928, the City claims to
have ceded that management to the Springville Irrigation
Company (SIC), a company the City asserts was formed by “the
owners and users of [irrigation] waters” on specified parcels who
were “desirous of forming a corporation . . . for the purpose of
taking over” water rights appurtenant to stockholders’ land and
“making distribution thereof to the stockholders of said
company.” 2 That same year—at least according to the City—John
Hazel Clark signed an agreement with SIC wherein SIC agreed to
convey to him “20 shares of the capital stock” of SIC in

2. Claimants assert that factual disputes exist regarding the
formation of SIC as well as the transactions between SIC and the
owners (or purported owners) of the Anderson Ranch and the
Clark Ranch; Claimants also raise authenticity objections to many
of the documents that underlie the City’s assertions regarding
SIC. However, as explained, infra ¶¶ 26–33, these potential
disputes of fact are not material, because even if we assume that
none of the 1920s-era SIC transactions occurred, the City acquired
the relevant water rights by virtue of the 1940s-era transactions.
Nevertheless, for purposes of completeness, we include here a
brief synopsis of the 1920s-era events, accounting in our
description for the reality that these facts remain disputed.

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consideration for “all [his] right, title and interest in and to the
waters from Springville Irr[igation] System . . . which irrigate [20
acres of land on the Clark Ranch] and which are appurtenant
thereto, . . . which are known and designated as all creek and
spring waters of the Springville Irrigation System.” After this
agreement was executed, SIC issued a stock certificate to John
Hazel Clark purporting to convey to him 20 shares of SIC stock.

¶5 The next year, Mary Ellen Anderson, apparently on behalf
of Oscar Anderson’s estate, entered into a similar agreement with
SIC.3 Under that contract, SIC agreed to provide “12 shares of the
capital stock” of SIC in consideration for “all [the estate’s] right,
title and interest in and to the waters from Springville Irr[igation]
System . . . which irrigate [12 acres of land on the Anderson
Ranch] and which are appurtenant thereto, . . . which are known
and designated as all creek and spring waters of the Springville
Irrigation System.” Later, SIC issued a stock certificate to Oscar
Anderson’s estate purporting to convey 12 shares of SIC stock.

¶6 By the early 1940s, the City determined that it was
“necessary and advisable to purchase and acquire an additional
water supply to supplement the existing municipally owned
water system.” To this end, in 1941 the City passed an ordinance
authorizing the “purchase . . . [of] water rights, together with the
necessary real estate in connection therewith”; the ordinance

3. Claimants also assert that factual disputes remain regarding
Mary Ellen Anderson’s authority to have conveyed any water
rights associated with the Anderson Ranch to SIC in 1929; in
particular, they assert that she had not yet been appointed
administrator of Oscar Anderson’s estate. As with the other
factual issues Claimants attempt to raise regarding the 1920s-era
events, any such factual issues are immaterial due to the 1940s-era
transactions. See infra ¶¶ 26–33.

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expressly authorized the City to acquire land and water rights
from Mary Ellen Anderson and John Hazel Clark, among others.

¶7 Following passage of this ordinance, the City negotiated
agreements by which it would acquire both the Anderson Ranch
and the Clark Ranch, along with appurtenant water rights. In
October 1941, Mary Ellen Anderson executed a warranty deed
(the 1941 Deed) conveying to the City “Special Section 57”—the
Anderson Ranch—“[t]ogether with all water and water rights
appurtenant thereto and heretofore and now used on said
premises and particularly 12 shares of capital stock in [SIC] and
all improvements thereon.” The 1941 Deed was recorded in the
office of the Utah County Recorder on November 3, 1941.

¶8 Likewise, in March 1942, John Hazel Clark and his wife,
Clara, executed a warranty deed (the 1942 Deed) conveying to the
City “Special Section 54”—the Clark Ranch—“[t]ogether with all
water and water rights appurtenant thereto,” as well as “20 shares
of the capital stock of [SIC] and all improvements thereon.” The
1942 Deed was recorded in the office of the Utah County Recorder
on May 2, 1942.

¶9 A few years after acquiring the Anderson Ranch and the
Clark Ranch along with all appurtenant water rights, the City
published a “Notice for Bids” offering these parcels of land for
sale to the public, but with one important caveat: that “[a]ll water
rights appurtenant to or in any way appertaining to said lands
will be reserved by [the City].” Later, the City received a bid from
Ralph Phillips, who offered to purchase both the Anderson Ranch
and the Clark Ranch in exchange for “$2000.00 cash, five shares of
water stock in [SIC], also [culinary] power, and any or every other
water rights here-to-fore or now claimed by [Phillips’s family] in
Bartholomew Canyon,” a side canyon in Hobble Creek Canyon.
The City accepted Phillips’s bid, approved the sale, and
subsequently executed a deed (the Phillips Deed) conveying

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“Special Section 54” and “Special Section 57” to Phillips.
Consistent with the City’s notice for bids, the conveyance
included a reservation, as follows:

All water and water rights heretofore used on the
aforesaid granted premises have been separately
sold and transferred and this conveyance is made
subject to the reservation of all water rights
excepting only a flood water right to which the
cultivated or improved part of the aforesaid granted
premises shall be entitled when and as long as such
flood water is available.

¶10 That same day, however, the City adopted a resolution
allowing Phillips to continue to use the City’s reserved water until
such time as the City needed it. The resolution acknowledged
Phillips’s desire to “us[e] the water that is now and has heretofore
been used on” the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch, and it
noted the City’s willingness to allow Phillips to use “the water
formerly used on said property . . . until such time as [the City]
may use it for other purposes or for municipal purposes.” The
resolution authorized municipal officials “to execute,
acknowledge and attest an agreement by and between” the City
and Phillips “setting forth the necessary provisions and
conditions under which [Phillips] may be entitled to use water
belonging to” the City on the property he had purchased.

¶11 Later, the City and Phillips executed three agreements
related to the transaction. The first two were executed on the same
day the City executed the Phillips Deed. In one agreement, the
City formalized its permission for Phillips and his wife, Ethel—
subject to the City’s use and discretion—to use the City’s reserved
water. That agreement provided, in relevant part, as follows:

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WHEREAS, [the City] has purchased certain real
estate and water rights in Hobble Creek Canyon in
connection with the Bartholomew Canyon Water
and Power Project, and

WHEREAS, at the present [the City] is not using the
water purchased for culinary or municipal
purposes, and

WHEREAS, [the City] has sold to [Phillips] the
following described property situate[d] in Utah
County, State of Utah, to-wit: [the Anderson Ranch
and the Clark Ranch]

AND, WHEREAS, [Phillips] is desirous of using the
water for irrigation purposes which was formerly
used on the hereinabove described property.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY AGREED that
[Phillips] may have the first right or privilege to
lease from year to year the water rights which were
formerly used for irrigation on [the Anderson Ranch
and the Clark Ranch] for such time as [the City] does
not make use of said water for culinary, power, or
other municipal purposes, it being definitely
understood that said water was [procured] for
municipal purposes for the use and benefit of the
inhabitants of Springville, Utah, and said water is to
be retained and put to such uses just as soon as
conditions and circumstances will permit. . . .

It is understood and agreed that nothing in this
agreement shall be construed to bind [the City] for
any definite period of time, but it is understood that
as long as [the City] considers it advisable to use the
water rights herein mentioned for irrigation

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purposes and does not use said water for its own
purposes that [Phillips] may have the first privilege
to lease and use said water.

¶12 The other agreement executed that day noted that the
City, in conveying the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch to
Phillips, had “reserved all water rights now and heretofore used
upon [the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch] except flood
water.”

¶13 Finally, the third agreement was executed a few
months later, and it memorialized the transfer of “certain
water rights” that Phillips 4 had promised to provide to the City
“as part of the consideration” for his purchase of the Anderson
Ranch and the Clark Ranch. Per that agreement, Phillips
conveyed to the City all of his “right, title, and interest of every
kind and nature in and to the use of such water rights . . . in the
Bartholomew Canyon Springs,” and that “said
conveyance, transfer, grant, or relinquishment to [the City]
includes the rights to the use of water out of Bartholomew Canyon
for any and all purposes whatsoever including irrigation,
culinary, power and any other purpose for which said water may
have heretofore been used.”

4. This agreement was between Phillips and his wife, Ethel, on the
one hand, and the City, on the other hand. As noted, some of the
agreements related to the Phillips transactions included Ethel,
and others did not. Our use of the term “Phillips” in this opinion
is therefore intended as a generic term that sometimes includes
Ethel Phillips, depending on context.

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The General Stream Adjudication and Proposed Determination

¶14 At some point during this time period, 5 a general stream
adjudication was commenced for the area that includes Hobble
Creek. The purpose of the general stream adjudication process
was to determine the water rights in the area and create a
centralized record of those rights. See Provo River Water Users’
Ass’n v. Morgan, 857 P.2d 927, 935 (Utah 1993) (“The basic goal of
general adjudication is to record all water claims from a particular
source which subsequent appropriators can rely upon before
making their investments.” (cleaned up)).

¶15 Decades later, in 1974, the subsequent owners of the
Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch—Carlos L. Watters and
Howard L. Jensen (Watters and Jensen))—filed diligence claims 6

5. The parties maintain that the general stream adjudication was
commenced in 1936, and the case number assigned to the case by
the district court (which begins with “36”) seems to corroborate
this. However, the State Engineer’s website indicates that it was
commenced in 1944. See Utah Lake/Jordan River Adjudication—Book
4 Details, Div. Water Rts., https://waterrights.utah.gov/adjstatus/
(click “Subdivision Number 51-4”) [https://perma.cc/U5JC-
HBQ9]. For our purposes, however, the exact date is not material.

6. “A diligence claim is a claim to a water right established by
putting water to beneficial use prior to March 12, 1903, when the
statutes creating the mandatory appropriation application
process went into effect.” Provo River Water Users’ Ass’n v. Morgan,
857 P.2d 927, 929 n.4 (Utah 1993). Before 1903, a “diligence right”
could be established “by diverting [water] from its natural
channel and putting it to beneficial use.” Eskelsen v. Town of Perry,
819 P.2d 770, 771 n.1 (Utah 1991). In 1903, the Utah legislature
enacted a statute that provided that the filing of an application
(continued…)

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with the Utah Division of Water Rights, asserting that they owned
certain water rights associated with the Anderson Ranch and the
Clark Ranch. In the claim associated with the Clark Ranch (the
Clark Water Right), Watters and Jensen asserted a “[c]laim to
surface water by right of use prior to March 12, 1903,” for 3.0 cubic
feet per second (cfs) of water from “Center Spring” for the
irrigation of 20 acres (later amended to 7.07 acres), stockwatering
of 90 head of cattle, and domestic use for two families, with a
claimed priority date of 1880. This diligence claim served as the
basis for the right that was later labeled “WR 51-3872.”

¶16 In the claim associated with the Anderson Ranch (the
Anderson Water Right), Watters and Jensen asserted a right to 1.0
cfs of water from “Upper Spring” for the irrigation of 5 acres and
the stockwatering of 90 head of sheep, with a claimed priority
date of 1880. 7 This diligence claim served as the basis for the right

with the State Engineer’s office is the exclusive method for a
prospective water user to establish a claim to water rights. See id.

7. The City points to a statement made by High Tower Properties
LP (High Tower)—the successor-in-interest to Watters and Jensen
and the predecessor-in-interest of Appellants Brian A. Hintze,
and Kelli Hintze—that the source of the water for the Anderson
Water Right was not even discovered until 1974. In response to a
request for admission that “prior to 1928, Water Right Number
51-3874 was historically distributed by [the City or SIC],” High
Tower offered a denial, and stated that “the spring was first
discovered on or around May 8, 1974, and no party distributed
water from the spring for Water Right Number 51-3874 before its
creation on that date.” The City asserts that this statement raises
doubt as to whether the Anderson Water Right could be a valid
diligence claim. We express no opinion about the correctness of
the City’s assertion.

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that was later labeled “WR 51-3874.” In this opinion, we
sometimes use the term “Water Rights” to refer, collectively, to
the Clark Water Right and the Anderson Water Right.

¶17 Some years later, in 1986, the State Engineer evaluated the
two water rights claims submitted by Watters and Jensen, and it
issued a Proposed Determination (PD) substantiating those
claims. In response, both SIC and the City filed timely objections.
SIC claimed, among other things, that Watters and Jensen
couldn’t own the Water Rights because any right to use the water
in question had previously been conveyed to SIC in exchange “for
shares of stock in [SIC]” and that “[a]ny rights to the source waters
identified are now represented by shares of stock in [SIC].” And
the City claimed, among other things, that Watters and Jensen
couldn’t own the Water Rights because any right to use the water
in question “was owned by [the City] or [SIC]” and because the
City was “the owner of the entire flow of water from the sources
given” for the Water Rights.

District Court Proceedings

¶18 In 2020, the City filed motions for summary judgment in
the general stream adjudication litigation, asking the court to
declare the Water Rights invalid because Claimants’ predecessors
had conveyed away all water represented by the Water Rights,
either in the 1920s-era agreements with SIC or in the 1940s-era
conveyances to the City. SIC and the Central Utah Water
Conservancy District joined in the City’s motions; notably, the
State Engineer did too, effectively reversing that office’s earlier
position and asserting that the PD had been improvidently issued.

¶19 Claimants opposed the City’s motions, asserting generally
that disputed factual issues should preclude summary judgment.
Claimants raised authenticity questions regarding the 1920s-era
SIC documents and asserted that those documents were in any

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event ambiguous. Claimants also pointed out that their chain of
title included a “flood water right” associated with the Anderson
Ranch and the Clark Ranch, and they argued that the conveyance
of this right from the City to Phillips included the water at issue
with the Water Rights. Finally, they argued that this conveyance
did not violate Article XI, Section 6 of the Utah Constitution
because Phillips had “exchange[d]” water rights with the City.

¶20 The motions first came on for hearing in front of the special
master who had been appointed to assist with the general stream
adjudication. After oral argument, the special master
recommended that the City’s motions be granted. The special
master concluded that Claimants had “failed to produce any
evidence of a legally permissible use of water on the property over
and above what was traded to SIC for shares in 1928 or sold to the
City” in the early 1940s, and that therefore the “uncontroverted
evidence show[ed] that the City [was] entitled to judgment . . . as
a matter of law.”

¶21 Claimants objected to the special master’s
recommendations, but the district court—after briefing and oral
argument—overruled Claimants’ objection and issued an order
granting the City’s motions for summary judgment. The court
first rejected Claimants’ evidentiary objections, concluding that—
“regardless of any ambiguity” in the 1920s-era SIC documents—
Claimants’ predecessors had conveyed all relevant water rights to
the City in the 1940s. The court explained that the City had
reserved all water rights for itself when it conveyed both parcels
to Phillips, and it concluded that the City was “constitutionally
prohibited” from conveying a quantifiable water right to Phillips
in connection with the “flood water right” language. Finally, the
court rejected the argument that there had been an “exchange” of
water rights between the City and Phillips, explaining that there
was “no admissible evidence to support” this theory.

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¶22 Following the court’s order granting the City’s motions for
summary judgment, Claimants filed motions to certify the order
as final for purposes of appeal. Claimants’ motions to certify were
unopposed, and the district court subsequently granted them. The
court noted that, under Utah law, Claimants had the right to
immediately appeal any “district court order, judgment, or decree
that resolves an objection” to a proposed determination rendered
by the State Engineer. See Utah Code § 73-4-11, -16(2)(a). But the
court explained that the City’s objection to the PD had “not been
fully resolved” because that objection had not been limited to the
Water Rights at issue in this appeal but, instead, had covered
other water rights claims as well, and the City’s objection to those
other claims remained pending. Nevertheless, the court ruled that
its summary judgment order could be certified for immediate
appeal pursuant to rule 54(b) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure,
because the City’s objection “contain[ed] multiple claims for relief
and multiple parties,” the summary judgment order was
otherwise final, and there was “no just reason to require the
parties . . . to delay in bringing their appeal.” Thus, the court
certified its summary judgment order as a “final appealable order
pursuant to” rule 54(b). 8

ISSUE AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶23 Claimants now appeal, and they challenge the order
granting summary judgment in the City’s favor regarding
ownership of the Water Rights. “We review a district court’s grant
of summary judgment for correctness.” Fine v. University of Utah
School of Med., 2024 UT 4, ¶ 12, 545 P.3d 215 (cleaned up).
“Summary judgment is appropriate only when, viewing all facts
and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to

8. No party challenges the district court’s rule 54(b) certification
order or otherwise contests our appellate jurisdiction in this case.

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the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue as to any material
fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of
law.” Id. (cleaned up); see also Utah R. Civ. P. 56(a).

ANALYSIS

¶24 The district court determined that, as a matter of law and
undisputed fact, Claimants’ claim to the Water Rights was invalid
because the City owns the rights to the water at issue. Claimants
take issue with that determination, and they assert that genuine
issues of material fact exist regarding several matters and that
therefore summary judgment is inappropriate.

¶25 Specifically, Claimants first argue that there is a dispute of
fact as to whether the City ever “acquired diligence waters”—the
Water Rights—from John Hazel Clark and Mary Ellen Anderson,
Claimants’ predecessors-in-interest. Claimants further argue that
a dispute of fact remains as to whether the City reserved the Water
Rights when it deeded the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch
to Phillips; in particular, Claimants assert that the “flood water
right” in the Phillips Deed might have included the Water Rights.
Relatedly, Claimants assert that the conveyance of this “flood
water right” did not violate the Utah Constitution because
Phillips “exchanged” water rights with the City. Finally,
Claimants assert that because the City’s original objections to the
PD did not specifically reference the 1940s-era land conveyances,
Claimants were denied due process for lack of notice. We address
these arguments in turn, and we explain that, for the reasons
discussed, we find each of them unpersuasive.

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I. In the 1940s, the City Owned the Land
and All Appurtenant Water Rights

¶26 We first address Claimants’ contention that the City never
obtained the Water Rights. Specifically, Claimants argue that the
1941 Deed and the 1942 Deed—the conveyances from John Hazel
Clark and Mary Ellen Anderson to the City—“did not include all
water and water rights appurtenant thereto.” For the reasons
discussed, we reject this assertion and hold that, as a matter of law
and undisputed fact, the 1941 Deed and the 1942 Deed conveyed
to the City all water rights appurtenant to the Anderson Ranch
and the Clark Ranch, including the diligence rights that Claimants
assert form the basis for their claimed Water Rights.

¶27 “At their most basic level, deeds are simply a particular
type of contract between parties.” Ocean 18 LLC v. Overage Refund
Specialists LLC (In re Excess Proceeds from Foreclosure of 1107
Snowberry St.), 2020 UT App 54, ¶ 20, 474 P.3d 481. “Deeds are to
be construed like other written instruments, according to
ordinary rules of contract construction.” Id. (cleaned up).

¶28 Under those rules, the “overriding principle is that the
intentions of the parties are controlling.” Id. ¶ 21 (cleaned up).
When assessing the intent of the parties, the appropriate place to
begin is with the language the parties agreed to use. See Central
Fla. Invs., Inc. v. Parkwest Assocs., 2002 UT 3, ¶ 12, 40 P.3d 599 (“We
first look to the four corners of the agreement to determine the
intentions of the parties.” (cleaned up)); see also Hartman v. Potter,
596 P.2d 653, 656 (Utah 1979) (stating that “the cardinal rule of
deed construction” is that “the intention of the parties as drawn
from the whole deed must govern” (footnote omitted)). “Where
the language used in the contract is facially unambiguous, the
parties’ intentions are determined from the plain meaning of the
contractual language, and the contract may be interpreted as a

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matter of law, without resort to parol evidence.” Ocean 18, 2020
UT App 54, ¶ 22 (cleaned up).

¶29 In this case, the 1941 Deed and the 1942 Deed clearly
conveyed to the City all water rights—without exception—that
were appurtenant to the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch.
Mary Ellen Anderson executed the 1941 Deed conveying the
Anderson Ranch “[t]ogether with all water and water rights
appurtenant thereto and heretofore and now used on said
premises.” (Emphasis added.) Likewise, John Hazel Clark and his
wife executed the 1942 Deed conveying the Clark Ranch
“[t]ogether with all water and water rights appurtenant thereto.”
(Emphasis added.)

¶30 The phrase “all water and water rights” in these
conveyances broadly encompassed any water rights appurtenant
to the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch and is unambiguous
as a matter of law. See Ruth B. Hardy Revocable Trust v. Eagle
Mountain City, 2012 UT App 352, ¶ 10, 295 P.3d 188 (holding that
the phrase “all water rights . . . thereunto belonging” is
unambiguous as a matter of law); see also Spears v. Warr, 2002 UT
24, ¶ 40, 44 P.3d 742 (holding that the deed in that case
unambiguously conveyed “all water or water rights . . .
appurtenant to or associated with” the land), overruled in part on
other grounds by Tangren Family Trust v. Tangren, 2008 UT 20, 182
P.3d 326, and abrogated in part on other grounds by RHN Corp. v.
Veibell, 2004 UT 60, 96 P.3d 935. Neither the 1941 Deed nor the
1942 Deed expressly reserved any water right, and such a
reservation was necessary—under clear case law applicable at the
time—if the grantor wanted to keep a water right appurtenant to
land being conveyed. See Thompson v. McKinney, 63 P.2d 1056,
1058 (Utah 1937) (“[A] deed in statutory form, without reservation
of water, conveys whatever rights the grantor has to the water
appurtenant to the land.”); Cortella v. Salt Lake City, 72 P.2d 630,

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635 (Utah 1937) (“[A] conveyance of land passes an appurtenant
water right unless the same is expressly reserved.”).

¶31 Claimants resist this conclusion by arguing that the Water
Rights were not traded for SIC shares in the 1920s and, as a result,
the conveyances to the City in the 1940s did not include the Water
Rights. But this argument fails because—regardless of whether
the 1920s SIC transactions included the Water Rights—the 1940s
deeds conveyed to the City all water appurtenant to the Anderson
Ranch and the Clark Ranch. Both the 1941 Deed and the 1942
Deed conveyed not only “all water and water rights appurtenant”
to the land, but they also conveyed the SIC stock then possessed
by the Andersons and the Clarks. Thus, the deeds took a belt-and-
suspenders approach and conveyed to the City all water rights
appurtenant to the land, regardless of whether those rights ran
through SIC. 9

9. For this reason, we need not reach the merits of any questions
about what was actually conveyed in the 1920s-era agreements,
and we need not spend time analyzing the documents involving
SIC’s formation. For purposes of our analysis, we assume without
deciding (and in keeping with our obligation, given the
procedural posture of this case, to construe facts in the light most
favorable to Claimants) that Mary Ellen Anderson and John Hazel
Clark did not convey their diligence water claims to SIC in
exchange for SIC stock shares.
We note here too that Claimants limited their authenticity
and hearsay challenges to the SIC documents. And at oral
argument, counsel for Claimants clarified that they had no
authenticity objection to the 1940s-era documents. Accordingly,
because the 1940s-era documents are dispositive, we need not
reach the merits of any authenticity questions involving the 1920s-
era documents.

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Hall v. Springville City

¶32 Moreover, Claimants’ claim to the Water Rights necessarily
must rely on the City’s ownership of all water rights appurtenant
to the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch before the City’s
conveyance of the land to Phillips in 1944. If the Water Rights
were never conveyed to the City, Claimants would have no claim
to them whatsoever because their claim rests on the chain of title
that runs from Mary Ellen Anderson and John Hazel Clark
through the City to Phillips and his successors-in-interest.
Claimants do not assert that they somehow acquired the Water
Rights through another party outside of this chain of title. Indeed,
Claimants seem to acknowledge this reality in their briefing,
noting that “[i]n 1941, when Mary E. Anderson sold [the
Anderson Ranch] to the City with the 12 SIC shares and other
water rights on the land, the City arguably became the water
rights owner of all the water on such land,” and stating that “it
was undisputed [the] Clarks conveyed ‘all water and water rights’
to the City in the 1942 Deed” and that the City “thus owned all of
the water, including the twenty (20) shares of SIC stock and all
other diligence, decreed, or appurtenant water rights not
converted to shares.”

¶33 Accordingly, the district court did not err by concluding,
as a matter of law and undisputed fact, that the 1941 Deed and the
1942 Deed conveyed the Water Rights to the City.

II. The City Reserved the Water Rights
in the 1944 Phillips Transactions

¶34 The district court also determined that, as a matter of law
and undisputed fact, the City reserved the Water Rights when it
conveyed the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch to Phillips in
1944. Claimants take issue with this determination, directing our
attention to the phrase “flood water right” in the Phillips Deed
and asserting that, at a minimum, disputed factual issues remain
to be decided regarding whether the Water Rights at issue here

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Hall v. Springville City

were part of the “flood water right” that the City conveyed to
Phillips. We disagree, and we affirm the district court’s
determination on this point.

A

¶35 As explained above, deeds are interpreted under the rules
of contract interpretation, and the “overriding principle is that the
intentions of the parties are controlling.” Ocean 18, 2020 UT App
54, ¶¶ 20–21 (cleaned up). When interpreting a contract, courts
examine the instrument in its entirety, considering “each . . .
provision in relation to all of the others, with a view toward giving
effect to all and ignoring none.” Café Rio, Inc. v. Larkin-Gifford-
Overton, LLC, 2009 UT 27, ¶ 25, 207 P.3d 1235 (cleaned up). Before
concluding that a contract is ambiguous, a court must first
attempt to “harmoniz[e] conflicting or apparently ambiguous
contract language,” an exercise in which courts “examine the
entire contract and all of its parts in relation to each other and give
a reasonable construction of the contract as a whole to determine
the parties’ intent.” Gillmor v. Macey, 2005 UT App 351, ¶ 19, 121
P.3d 57 (cleaned up). “A contract is facially ambiguous if its terms
are capable of more than one reasonable interpretation because of
uncertain meanings of terms, missing terms, or other facial
deficiencies.” Mind & Motion Utah Invs., LLC v. Celtic Bank Corp.,
2016 UT 6, ¶ 24, 367 P.3d 994 (cleaned up). A “reasonable
interpretation” is one “that cannot be ruled out, after considering
the natural meaning of the words in the contract provision in
context of the contract as a whole, as one the parties could have
reasonably intended.” Brady v. Park, 2019 UT 16, ¶ 55, 445 P.3d
395. And where a contract “is facially unambiguous, the parties’
intentions are determined from the plain meaning of the
contractual language, and the contract may be interpreted as a
matter of law, without resort to parol evidence.” Ocean 18, 2020
UT App 54, ¶ 22 (cleaned up).

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Hall v. Springville City

¶36 With those principles in mind, we proceed to examine the
language of the Phillips Deed, which includes the following
reservation of water rights:

All water and water rights heretofore used on the
aforesaid granted premises have been separately
sold and transferred and this conveyance is made
subject to the reservation of all water rights excepting
only a flood water right to which the cultivated or
improved part of the aforesaid granted premises shall be
entitled when and as long as such flood water is available.

(Emphasis added.)

¶37 The parties offer two competing interpretations of the
emphasized language. Claimants assert that the term “flood water
right” encompasses their diligence-based Water Rights; stated
another way, Claimants contend that the City conveyed to
Phillips, through use of the phrase “flood water right,” the
diligence rights that form the basis for the Water Rights.

¶38 The City, by contrast, asserts that “flood water” refers to
water that naturally and unpredictably rises over the banks of a
river or stream during times of high flow, most often during the
late spring when runoff is at a peak in Utah. See, e.g., Weber Basin
Water Conservancy Dist. v. Gailey, 303 P.2d 271, 271 (Utah 1956)
(“The annual flood discharge [of the Weber River] from snow
melt occurs in April, May and June, varying greatly from year to
year, . . . [and] frequently flood[s] the valley farms in its course.”);
see also Water, Black’s Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024) (defining
“floodwater” as “[w]ater that escapes from a watercourse in large
volumes and flows over adjoining property in no regular
channel”). Thus, as the City sees it, the term “flood water right”
as used in the Phillips Deed simply provides Phillips (and his

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Hall v. Springville City

successors) the right to use excess water that might happen to
appear on the property during seasonal periods of flooding.

¶39 The City’s interpretation is a reasonable one, and it
harmonizes with the other parts of the Phillips Deed. The first part
of the water rights reservation states broadly that “[a]ll water and
water rights heretofore used on the aforesaid granted premises have
been separately sold and transferred and this conveyance is made
subject to the reservation of all water rights.” (Emphasis added.) This
provision references water rights appurtenant to the Anderson
Ranch and the Clark Ranch other than the flood water right,
suggesting that the flood water right is different from “water
rights heretofore used” on the property. Furthermore, the City’s
interpretation harmonizes with the qualifier that the flood water
right exists “as long as such flood water is available,” words that
carry an implication that the flood water right is seasonal and that
the water associated with that right will not always be available.

¶40 Claimants’ interpretation, by contrast, is not as convincing
as the City’s. Claimants ask us to interpret the general phrase
“flood water right” to specifically reference (or at least include)
pre-1903 diligence rights to use “1.0 cfs of water from ‘Upper
Spring’”—which the Hintzes’ predecessor says was not even
discovered until 1974, see supra note 7—for the irrigation of “5
acres and the stock-watering of 90 [head of sheep,] with a claimed
priority date of 1880,” appurtenant to the Anderson Ranch, and
“3.0 cfs of water from ‘Center Spring’” for irrigation of 7.07 acres,
“stock-watering of 90 [head of cattle,] and domestic use for two
families, with a claimed priority date of 1880,” appurtenant to the
Clark Ranch. This interpretation is hard to square with the
ordinary contextual meaning of “floodwater,” see Water, Black’s
Law Dictionary, which suggests that such water is inconsistent
and has no defined quantity or point of diversion, and with other
provisions of the Phillips Deed discussed in the previous
paragraph, see Brady, 2019 UT 16, ¶ 55 (explaining that we must

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Hall v. Springville City

first “consider[] the natural meaning of the words in the contract
provision in context of the contract as a whole, as one the parties
could have reasonably intended.”).

¶41 Thus, “after considering the natural meaning of the words
in the contract provision in context of the contract as a whole,” see
id., one might readily conclude that Claimants’ interpretation of
the Phillips Deed’s reference to “flood water right” is not just less
convincing than the City’s but is so unconvincing as to be
unreasonable, and that the Phillips Deed can therefore be
unambiguously interpreted in the City’s favor.

B

¶42 But we need not go that far in this case, because even if we
were to consider the term “flood water right,” as used in the
Phillips Deed, to be ambiguous, we would end up in the same
place: construing the Phillips Deed in the City’s favor as a matter
of law and undisputed fact. See, e.g., Buck v. Utah State Tax
Comm’n, 2022 UT 11, ¶ 48, 506 P.3d 584 (“[E]ven if we were to
stretch and credit [the claimants’] interpretation as a reasonable
one, resulting in an ambiguity, [the claimants] would still lose.”).

¶43 If a court determines, as a legal matter, that a contract is
facially ambiguous, then a question of fact exists as to the parties’
intentions. See Daines v. Vincent, 2008 UT 51, ¶ 25, 190 P.3d 1269;
see also WebBank v. American Gen. Annuity Service Corp., 2002 UT
88, ¶ 22, 54 P.3d 1139 (“When ambiguity exists, the intent of the
parties becomes a question of fact.” (cleaned up)). As with any
question of fact, the resolution of the question of the parties’
intentions regarding an ambiguous contract is usually reserved
for the factfinder. See Brady, 2019 UT 16, ¶ 53 n.37 (“When
ambiguity does exist, the intent of the parties is a question of fact
to be determined by the jury.” (cleaned up)).

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Hall v. Springville City

¶44 However, “even questions of fact may be decided as a
matter of law at the summary judgment stage, so long as the parol
evidence submitted by the parties is so one-sided that a
reasonable factfinder could reach but one conclusion.” Ocean 18,
2020 UT App 54, ¶ 29; see also Cross v. Olsen, 2013 UT App 135,
¶ 29, 303 P.3d 1030 (“Summary judgment is appropriate on . . .
factual questions when they fall on either end of a factual
continuum: when there could be no reasonable difference of
opinion, or when the facts are so tenuous, vague, or insufficiently
established that determining the factual issue becomes completely
speculative.” (cleaned up)).

¶45 In this case, the universe of extrinsic evidence involving the
Phillips Deed is not extensive, and it clearly and one-sidedly
supports the City’s interpretation of the Phillips Deed. For
starters, in the early 1940s, before purchasing the Anderson Ranch
and the Clark Ranch, the City passed an ordinance stating that it
was “necessary and advisable to purchase and acquire an
additional water supply to supplement the existing municipally
owned water system.” And this ordinance authorized the
“purchase [of] water rights, together with the necessary real estate
in connection therewith,” including the Anderson Ranch and the
Clark Ranch.

¶46 Then, when the City published its “Notice for Bids”
regarding the sale of the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch,
the City made clear its intent to keep the water rights: “All water
rights appurtenant to or in any way appertaining to said lands
will be reserved by [the City].”

¶47 Later, on the same day the Phillips Deed was executed, the
City adopted a resolution authorizing Phillips to use the City’s
water rights appurtenant to the Anderson Ranch and the Clark
Ranch, subject to the City’s discretion. This resolution recognized
that “[Phillips] is desirous of using the water that is now and has

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Hall v. Springville City

heretofore been used on [the Anderson Ranch and the Clark
Ranch],” and that the City “is willing that the water formerly used
on said property may be used thereon until such time as [the City]
may use it for other purposes or for municipal purposes.”
Moreover, one of the agreements between the City and Phillips
permitting Phillips to use the water stated that it was
“understood” between the parties that the water rights
appurtenant to the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch had
been “[procured] for municipal purposes for the use and benefit
of the inhabitants of Springville, Utah, and said water is to be
retained and put to such uses just as soon as conditions and
circumstances will permit.”

¶48 This contextual evidence indicates that the City’s general
intent was to acquire more water for community and municipal
use, and that it purchased the Anderson Ranch and the Clark
Ranch primarily to obtain the water rights associated with those
properties. Claimants’ interpretation of the phrase “flood water
right” is directly at odds with this contextual evidence, none of
which suggests that the City was interested in conveying away
(rather than acquiring) any non-ephemeral water rights.

¶49 Crucially, Claimants point to no extrinsic evidence on the
other side of the ledger, and they offer only speculation as to the
parties’ intent regarding the meaning of “flood water right.”
Thus, even though questions involving ambiguous terms are
usually questions for a factfinder, on this record we are well
within our bounds to conclude “as a matter of law at the summary
judgment stage” that “the parol evidence submitted by the parties
is so one-sided that a reasonable factfinder could reach but one
conclusion.” Ocean 18, 2020 UT App 54, ¶ 29.

¶50 Our conclusion in this regard is bolstered by the fact that
Claimants’ interpretation of “flood water right” faces a
constitutional hurdle. The “constitutional avoidance canon” is a

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Hall v. Springville City

tool sometimes used in textual interpretation analysis, and courts
invoke that canon when the language at issue “presents two
possible meanings, one of which may be unconstitutional.” See
Richards v. Cox, 2019 UT 57, ¶ 40, 450 P.3d 1074. In such situations,
courts assume that the drafters of the language at issue “meant,
and so chose, the interpretation that is in harmony with the
constitution.” 10 Id. Constitutional avoidance rests “on the

10. The constitutional avoidance canon is usually employed to
interpret statutes, see Richards v. Cox, 2019 UT 57, ¶ 40, 450 P.3d
1074, whereas here we are interpreting a term within a deed.
However, courts often apply canons of statutory interpretation
when analyzing the text of private instruments. See Blyth-Fargo Co.
v. Free, 148 P. 427, 430 (Utah 1915) (“The rules or canons of
interpretation which are resorted to by the courts to aid them in
arriving at the meaning or intention of any written document,
instrument, contract, or statute, are precisely the same in every
case.”); see also Café Rio, Inc. v. Larkin-Gifford-Overton, LLC, 2009
UT 27, ¶ 25, 207 P.3d 1235 (“Under the well-established rule of
construction ejusdem generis, we determine the meaning of a
general contractual term based on the specific enumerations that
surround that term.” (cleaned up)); Susan Yorke, The Curious Case
of the Missing Canons, 77 Stan. L. Rev. 1011, 1029, 1030–31 (2025)
[hereinafter Yorke] (explaining that “text is text” and that “as a
practical reality, courts frequently invoke interpretive canons
when faced with textual ambiguities in contracts, statutes, or the
Constitution,” and observing that courts “frequently invoke
interpretive canons when interpreting private legal instruments,
like contracts, deeds, or wills”). Even where terminology differs,
the canons of statutory interpretation often have analogues in
contract construction. See Yorke at 1029–30 (comparing “the canon
of constitutional avoidance (which counsels against a statutory
construction that renders the provision unconstitutional)” with
(continued…)

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Hall v. Springville City

reasonable presumption that where there is more than one
plausible interpretation of [a given text], the [drafters of the
language] did not intend the interpretation which raises serious
constitutional doubts.” See State v. Garcia, 2017 UT 53, ¶ 59, 424
P.3d 171 (cleaned up).

¶51 In this case, Claimants’ assertion that the City conveyed the
Water Rights to Phillips through the use of the phrase “flood
water right” is in square tension with the Utah Constitution,
which forbids any “municipality that owns, acquires, or controls
water rights or sources of water supply to supply water to the
public” from “directly or indirectly leas[ing], sell[ing],
alienat[ing], or dispos[ing] of any of those water rights or sources
of water supply.” Utah Const. art. XI, § 6(1)(a). And this limitation
“should not be narrowly or strictly construed,” because it is
“meant to secure to communities their water systems and prohibit
any sale or lease to private parties.” Genola Town v. Santaquin City,
80 P.2d 930, 935 (Utah 1938).

¶52 Our supreme court addressed this constitutional
restriction in Eskelsen v. Town of Perry, 819 P.2d 770 (Utah 1991),
and there the court held that a property owner’s diligence claim
was barred because a municipality had owned the land associated
with the diligence claim before its conveyance to a private party.
In that case, the Town of Perry had acquired seventy acres of land
and had “expressly obtained all water rights” associated with the
land, then conveyed part of the land to a purchaser without
“expressly reserving [or] conveying” the water rights. Id. at 771.

“an analogue in the private context, which directs courts not to
construe a contract in a manner that will render it unlawful if it
reasonably can be construed in a manner which will uphold its
validity” (cleaned up)). For these reasons, we are comfortable
applying the constitutional avoidance canon to our deed-
interpretation inquiry in this case.

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Hall v. Springville City

Years later, the purchaser’s successors-in-interest claimed to own
diligence-based water rights appurtenant to the land, and they
argued that because the water rights had not been “expressly
reserved by the grantor,” the water rights “passe[d] at the time of
the conveyance of the land.” Id. at 772. Our supreme court rejected
this argument, citing the Utah Constitution, and held that the
Town of Perry could not have conveyed the water rights away in
the later transaction because it was not constitutionally permitted
to do so. Id. Accordingly, the court concluded that “the fact that
there was a municipal corporation in the chain of title precludes
any claim by a subsequent owner to water rights stemming from
a transfer of title out of the municipality.” Id.

¶53 In this case, if we interpret “flood water right” in the
Phillips Deed to have effectuated a conveyance of the Water
Rights from the City to Phillips, then the City would have violated
the Utah Constitution. If, however, the Phillips Deed did not
convey any recognized and quantified water right or water source
but, instead, merely recognized that Phillips could make use of
seasonal excess flows of water if and when they are available, then
no constitutional problem is presented. Thus, we must decide
between two interpretations of the Phillips Deed: one that is
constitutional and one that isn’t. Invocation of the constitutional
avoidance canon here counsels in favor of the City’s interpretation
of the Phillips Deed, because under that interpretation, the City
did not act unconstitutionally.

¶54 But that is not quite the end of the analysis. Claimants
argue that the City’s conveyance of the Water Rights to Phillips
was constitutional because it was part of an “exchange” of water
rights consistent with the Utah Constitution’s provision allowing
municipalities to “exchang[e] water rights or sources of water
supply for other water rights or sources of water supply that the
municipality determines will equally enable the municipality to
meet the needs of its designated water service area.” Utah Const.

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Hall v. Springville City

art. XI, § 6(2)(c). In support, Claimants argue that this is evidenced
by Phillips’s bid to the City, including his offer to pay for the
Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch partly with cash but partly
with SIC stock shares and other water rights in Bartholomew
Canyon. And Claimants point to the subsequent agreements
between the City and Phillips as evidence of this exchange.

¶55 But this argument rests entirely on speculation. Claimants
have not pointed to any evidence indicating that either the City or
Phillips understood the City’s conveyance of a “flood water right”
to have been part of an exchange of water rights that would
“equally enable” the City to “meet the needs of its designated
water service area.” Id. Claimants point to no assessment in the
record undertaken by the City or Phillips that shows that the
exchange would satisfy any of the City’s municipal needs. By
contrast, the City points to substantial evidence in the record
showing that the City was in the process of acquiring more water
rights and that it purchased the Anderson Ranch and the Clark
Ranch, among others, for precisely that purpose. We also note that
Phillips offered his water rights along with $2,000 as part of his
initial bid, a bid that was subsequently accepted. Thus, there is no
evidence that either party intended the City’s conveyance of a
“flood water right” to be part of any exchange of water rights
consistent with Article XI, Section 6(2)(c).

¶56 And the subsequent agreements between the City and
Phillips regarding his use of the City’s water are of no assistance
to Claimants in this regard. The first two agreements restate the
City’s “reserv[ation of] all water rights now and heretofore used
upon [the Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch] except flood
water,” and include the qualifier that “[i]t is understood and
agreed that nothing in this agreement shall be construed to bind
[the City] for any definite period of time” and that “as long as [the
City] considers it advisable to use the water rights herein
mentioned for irrigation purposes and does not use said water for

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Hall v. Springville City

its own purposes that [Phillips] may have the first privilege to
lease and use said water.” And finally, the third agreement states
plainly that Phillips “agreed to transfer and relinquish to [the
City] certain water rights” “as part of the consideration” for his
purchase and acquisition of the Anderson Ranch and the Clark
Ranch from the City. These agreements do not mention any
exchange of equivalent water rights, and given the qualified
language of the City’s reservation of water rights in these
agreements, we simply see no support in these agreements for the
proposition Claimants advance. Indeed, it appears that Phillips
was provided only the privilege to use certain water rights—
owned by the City—subject to the City’s complete discretion.

¶57 For all of these reasons, even if we assume for purposes of
the discussion that the phrase “flood water right” is ambiguous,
the interpretation of that phrase remains a matter that can be
determined as a matter of law on summary judgment. The
available extrinsic and contextual evidence, including applicable
interpretive canons, all point in one general direction: that the
City did not convey any quantifiable water right to Phillips when
it conveyed to Phillips a “flood water right” associated with the
Anderson Ranch and the Clark Ranch. Thus, as a matter of law
and undisputed fact, when the City conveyed the Anderson
Ranch and the Clark Ranch to Phillips in 1944, it reserved for itself
the Water Rights now claimed by Claimants.

III. Claimants Were Afforded Due Process

¶58 Finally, Claimants argue that they were denied due process
for lack of notice. Specifically, they assert that they were not given
adequate notice because neither the City nor SIC—in their initial
objections to the PD—specifically referenced the transfers of land
or water rights in the 1920s or the 1940s as the basis for their
objections to the PD. For the reasons discussed, we reject this
argument and hold that Claimants were afforded due process.

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Hall v. Springville City

¶59 The PD in this case was issued in 1986, and at that time, the
operative statutory provision required that any party wishing to
object to a proposed determination needed to “file with the clerk
of the district court a written objection thereto duly verified on
oath.” Utah Code § 73-4-11 (1986); Water and Water Rights, ch. 67,
§ 32, 1919 Utah Laws 186; see also In re Gen. Determination of Rights
to the Use of Water, 2004 UT 106, ¶ 19, 110 P.3d 666 (noting, in
reference to Utah Code section 73-4-11, that “[a]ll relevant
portions of the statute have remained unchanged since 1919, the
year the statute was first enacted”).

¶60 In this case, the City filed an objection and alleged that its
rights would be negatively impacted if the State Engineer
recognized Claimants’ predecessors as the owners of the Water
Rights. The City’s objection also alleged that Claimants’ claim to
the Water Rights is invalid and that Claimants’ claim should be
denied. The same is true of SIC’s objection.

¶61 The statute’s plain language only required the City to “file
with the clerk of the district court a written objection thereto duly
verified on oath.” Utah Code § 73-4-11 (1986). There was no
pleading standard incorporated into the statute at the time of the
City’s filing, nor were there any requirements that the objections
include a listing of each basis or legal theory supporting the
objection. See id. We also note that, in the years following the filing
of the City’s objection, Claimants (and their predecessors) were
given the opportunity to engage in discovery, develop an
extensive record, and respond to the specific legal arguments the
City made in support of its motions for summary judgment,
including its assertions involving the 1920s-era agreements and
the 1940s-era agreements. Thus, Claimants were given adequate
notice in this case and were not denied due process of law.

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Hall v. Springville City

CONCLUSION

¶62 The City acquired the Anderson Ranch and the Clark
Ranch, along with all water rights appurtenant to these parcels, in
1941 and 1942. The City then conveyed these parcels dry to
Claimants’ predecessor in 1944, reserving all quantifiable water
rights (including the Water Rights) for itself. Thus, as a matter of
law and undisputed fact, Claimants have no valid claim to the
Water Rights. Accordingly, the district court did not err by
entering summary judgment in favor of the City and sustaining
the City’s objection to the PD with respect to the Water Rights.

¶63 Affirmed.

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