Concerning the Protest of McKenna and McKenna Ranch to the Revised Abandonment List of Water Rights in Water…

Summary

The court held that the statutory deadline for the Division Engineer to prepare a decennial abandonment list is directory rather than jurisdictional, so a brief delay did not deprive the water court of authority to adjudicate the protest. The court also upheld the finding that the Sanchez Ditch water rights were abandoned because decades of nonuse created a presumption of abandonment and the evidence did not establish an intent to resume beneficial use. The judgment of abandonment was affirmed and the matter was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.