Water for sale: Hunters of California seek buyers for water rights in Death Valley

Carrie Stadheim

While much of the state burns out of control, the Hunter family of Death Valley, California is looking for a place to go with their water. Wayne Hage, Jr., who, like his father before him, has become well known for lifelong battles defending water and grazing rights on his Nevada ranch, said the Hunters have asked him to serve as a broker as they look for a buyer for their water rights. "The Hunter family owns water in Death Valley. They tried to sell their water rights to the Park but the Park offered such an insultingly low price, that didn't get far," said Hage. In order to obtain the full value of their water rights, the Hunters have recruited Hage to help them. The Hunters, who have ranched in the area since 1871, didn't set out to parse off their water rights. The story behind the story is much the same as Hage's. After the Hunter family settled the region, generation after generation raised cattle in some of the most inhospitable dry desert country in the United States. Obviously the ranch required water, and the family discovered, developed, maintained and improved water sources throughout the years...The federal government declared Death Valley National Monument in 1933 and it was substantially expanded and became a National Park in 1994. A 1964 decision by the district court required the Hunters to remove their cattle from Death Valley. The federal government argued that because the area had been named a Monument, government bureaucrats had the authority to require that Hunter cattle be removed from the Monument area. The Hunters and their attorneys argued in a 1967 appeal that their use of the water far pre-dated the Monument designation, and the family had established water rights, under the "Act of 1866," by establishing beneficial use and continually utilizing and improving said water since 1871...The Ninth Circuit Court ruled that the Hunter family must remove their cattle from around their established water right locations in Death Valley, however the court confirmed their ownership of their water rights and said the government could not deny the Hunter family access to their water rights. They were to access their water through the ditches and canals portion of the 1866 Act, which means they own the right of way to pipe their water out of the Park and to their private lands...MORE

There is a sidebar to the article concerning Wayne Hage Jr.'s plans for water:

In April when Hage stood before the 9th Circuit Appeal Court judges, he told them that the government had also denied him permission to physically remove the water from the sources. The judges told Hage that case law – Hunter v. US – indicated that he had every right to remove his water from the source, including piping it across BLM-administered land – much of which is Wilderness – to his own patent ranch land. Hage says he intends to do just that, and soon.

 

These cases help demonstrate the difference between a permit, such as a grazing permit, and a valid existing right, such as a water right. The Supreme Ct. has ruled a grazing permit is a privilege and can be revoked, whereas a property right can't be taken without just compensation. This also explains why the federal land management agencies fight so hard to keep ranchers and others from acquiring water rights.