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Stevens v. 396 Investment Co.5/17/2005
brought into service as soon as possible, for the benefit of their lands. (Id. at pp. 682, 690.) The court held that the plaintiffs were estopped from recovering damages with respect to seepage. It stated that " nder these circumstances it is apparent that the damage, if any, sustained by the plaintiffs by reason of seepage from said canals was `the natural, reasonably to be anticipated, and ordinary injury resulting to' their lands from the construction of said canals . . . ." (Id. at p. 696.)
In the case before us, however, Anaheim has failed to show us that the Santiago Land Co., before conveying the reservoir site, had received any report warning that the seepage from the reservoir would cause a serious problem. Moreover, Anaheim has not, as we have indicated, shown that the leakage of 34 million gallons of water per year is "`the natural, reasonably to be anticipated, and ordinary injury resulting'" (Sutro Heights Land Co. v. Merced Irr. Dist., supra, 211 Cal. at p. 696) from the construction of a reservoir. Anaheim quotes a sentence from Sutro Heights to the effect that it would likely occur to a jury assessing damages in a condemnation case that injuries might result from reservoir seepage (id. at p. 693), but we do not construe this as a pronouncement that reservoir seepage in any amount is always reasonably foreseeable.
The trial court correctly concluded that the leakage in this case was not reasonably foreseeable and correctly held that Anaheim's estoppel by deed defense failed. This being the case, we need not address 396's argument that Anaheim is estopped from raising the estoppel by deed defense.
G. EXPRESS, PRESCRIPTIVE, OR IMPLIED EASEMENT:
Next, Anaheim contends it holds an express, prescriptive, or implied drainage easement permitting exactly the conduct for which it has been held liable. The trial court rejected this claim. As we shall show, Anaheim has not met its burden to demonstrate error. (See Del Real v. City of Riverside (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 761, 766 [appellant has burden to demonstrate reversible error].)
(1) Express Easement
In August 1960, the Santiago Land Co. entered into an agreement with Anaheim pertaining to the sale to Anaheim of 22.3 acres of property for a reservoir site. In addition to the 22.3 acres, the Santiago Land Co. agreed to convey to Anaheim several easements, including a 4.5 acre easement for drainage purposes.
The grant deed from the Santiago Land Co. to Anaheim, recorded November 30, 1960, conveyed four parcels, i.e., one fee interest and three easement interests. Two of the easements were for service roads, water transmission lines and public utility purposes. The third easement interest was for "drainage purposes" of an unspecified nature. The location of the easement was described by metes and bounds.
It is this express drainage easement that Anaheim claims gives it the right to seep water from the reservoir over the lands of all the plaintiffs. The problem is that we don't know whether the plaintiffs' properties are located within that drainage easement area. Curiously, the parties do not discuss the issue. Whether this is because they all agree that the plaintiffs' properties are subject to the drainage easement, or because it did not occur to them to brief the issue, we cannot say.
Anaheim cites its exhibit 1561 - a color-coded map showing the boundaries of the former land holdings of Louis and Margaret Nohl, the boundaries of the reservoir site, and the boundaries of Tract 10439. It also cites the testimony of title examiner Randall Williams wherein he described the color coding on the map. However, Williams' testimony pertained to the pro
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