## Facts

- Laramie Rivers Company held senior permits to store 68,500 acre-feet in Lake Hattie Reservoir, supplied by the Laramie and Little Laramie Rivers.
- In 1972, the state engineer limited storage to 27,400 acre-feet until dam repairs were completed.
- Wheatland Irrigation District, a junior appropriator with Wheatland Reservoir No. 3 drawing from the same sources, alleged Laramie Rivers failed to use 41,100 acre-feet of its storage right for beneficial purposes for five successive years.
- In 1980, Wyoming approved financing for dam repairs, and Laramie Rivers began substantial repair work around the time Wheatland initiated abandonment proceedings.
- Wheatland filed a petition for abandonment with the Wyoming State Board of Control on May 23, 1980; Laramie Rivers received notice on June 6, 1980.

## Issues

1. Whether, under Wyo. Stat. § 41-3-401(a), the Board of Control may deny statutory abandonment based on repair work or other nonuse-related activities rather than actual application of water to beneficial use.
2. Whether Wheatland’s abandonment petition was timely for purposes of applying the five-year nonuse period in § 41-3-401(a).

## Decision

- The Wyoming Supreme Court held Wheatland’s petition was timely filed.
- The Court held the Board of Control could not avoid forfeiture by relying on Laramie Rivers’ pre-petition reservoir repair work.
- The Court rejected the Board’s approach as inconsistent with the statute, which allows forfeiture to be avoided only by applying water to beneficial use.
- The Court’s ruling required further proceedings applying § 41-3-401(a) based on actual beneficial use during the relevant five-year period, not preparatory actions.

## Legal Principles

- Under Wyo. Stat. § 41-3-401(a), failure to use water for the beneficial purposes of the appropriation for five successive years results in abandonment and forfeiture of the water right.
- The statutory forfeiture resulting from five years of nonuse may be avoided only by actual application of water to beneficial use.
- Administrative discretion is limited by the statute’s terms; the Board of Control may not create extra-statutory exceptions based on repairs, intent to use, or financing efforts.
- In abandonment disputes, the controlling inquiry is whether the appropriator applied the claimed right to beneficial use within the statutory period.

## Conclusion

The court held that an appropriator’s repair efforts and related preparatory conduct do not prevent abandonment under § 41-3-401(a); only actual beneficial use within the five-year period can avoid forfeiture, and Wheatland’s petition invoking that statute was timely.


Wheatland Irrigation Dist. v. Laramie Rivers Co., 659 P.2d 561 (Wyo. 1983)