Singh v. United States, Elephant Butte Irrigation Dist. ( 2014 )

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1 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
2 SAMMIE SINGH, SR., SAMMIE H. SINGH, JR.,
3 ED PROVENIENCE, LUPE GARCIA, JOHNNY DIAZ,
4 AND JOHN FLEMING,
5 Claimants/Defendants-Appellants,
6 vs. No. 33,274
7 UNITED STATES, ELEPHANT BUTTE
8 IRRIGATION DISTRICT, AND CITY OF LAS CRUCES,
9 Defendants-Appellees.
10 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF DOÑA ANA COUNTY
11 James J. Wechsler, District Judge
12 Robert S. Simon
13 Albuquerque, NM
14 for Appellants
15 Appellate Section, Environment and Natural Resources Divsion
16 U.S. Department of Justice
1 Matthew Littleton
2 Washington, DC
3 for Appellee United States
4 Law office of Steven L. Hernandez PC
5 Steven L. Hernandez
6 Samantha R. Barncastle
7 Las Cruces, NM
8 for Appellee Elephant Butte Irrigation District
9 Stein & Brockmann PA
10 Jay F. Stein
11 Santa Fe, NM
12 for Appellee City of Las Cruces
13 Gary K. King, Attorney General
14 DL Sanders, Chief Counsel, Special Assistant Attorney General
15 Francis L. Reckard, Special Assistant Attorney General
16 Laurie A. Knowles, Special Assistant Attorney General
17 Richard A. Allen, Special Assistant Attorney General
18 Santa Fe, NM
19 for Appellees
20 MEMORANDUM OPINION
21 HANISEE, Judge.
22 {1} Appellants appeal from the district court’s denial of their motion to designate
23 a new stream system issue in the Lower Rio Grande Adjudication to adjudicate pre-
24 1906 claims to water, storage, and diversion rights in the Lower Rio Grande. [DS 2;
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1 RP 9, 67] This Court issued a calendar notice proposing summary dismissal of the
2 appeal. Appellants have filed a memorandum in opposition to this Court’s notice of
3 proposed disposition. Appellees United States, Elephant Butte Irrigation District, and
4 State of New Mexico each filed a memorandum in support of this Court’s notice of
5 proposed disposition. Having duly considered each of these filings, we dismiss.
6 {2} In our calendar notice, we proposed to dismiss for lack of a final, appealable
7 order. [CN 4] Appellants’ memorandum in opposition contains three broad
8 contentions, only one of which directly addresses our proposed disposition. We focus,
9 then, on Appellants’ argument that the district court’s order denying their motion to
10 designate a stream system issue was a final, appealable order because it “finally
11 resolved and denied [Appellants’] opportunity to set a stream issue.” [MIO 15]
12 {3} In our calendar notice, we recognized that this Court’s jurisdiction lies from
13 final, appealable orders. [CN 2] See Kelly Inn No. 102, Inc. v. Kapnison, 1992-NMSC-
14 005, ¶ 14, 113 N.M. 231, 824 P.2d 1033; see also Montoya v. Anaconda Mining Co.,
15 1981-NMCA-113, ¶ 20, 97 N.M. 1, 635 P.2d 1323 (observing that an appellate court
16 will raise jurisdictional questions on its own motion), overruled on other grounds as
17 recognized by San Juan 1990-A., L.P. v. El Paso Prod. Co., 2002-NMCA-041, 132
18 N.M. 73, 43 P.3d 1083. Generally, an order or judgment is not considered final unless
19 all issues of law and fact have been determined and the case disposed of by the district
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1 court to the fullest extent possible. See Kelly Inn, 1992-NMSC-005, ¶ 14. In City of
2 Albuquerque v. Sanchez, 1992-NMCA-038, ¶ 9, 113 N.M. 721, 832 P.2d 412, we
3 noted in determining the practical finality of an order that “the judge’s order fully
4 disposed of all issues between the parties that were brought before the judge.”
5 {4} In this case, the district court’s order denying Appellants’ motion to designate
6 a stream system issue did not determine the rights of the parties on the merits, leaving
7 those for future determination in the course of the water adjudication. As we stated in
8 our calendar notice, the practical effect of the district court’s denial is that instead of
9 having their claims heard in an expedited fashion as a stream system issue, Appellants
10 will have to pursue their claims through the standard sub-file proceedings. [CN 3]
11 Appellants apparently recognize this fact as well, as they state in their memorandum
12 in opposition that a dismissal of their appeal would “relegate [Appellants’] [c]laim to
13 sub-file proceedings” and “their claims will not be appealable until all sub-file and
14 inter-se proceeding[s] are completed.” [MIO 23]
15 {5} While Appellants continue to argue that their claims should be heard as a stream
16 system issue and not as a standard sub-file, we remain unconvinced that the district
17 court’s order in this case fully disposed of all the issues between the parties. This is
18 particularly true given Appellants’ statement that “the issue [of] whether [Appellants]
19 are entitled to senior priority to some or all of the project rights for the LRG is an
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1 issue that arrived at this Court independently [through an appeal from a denial of
2 summary judgment in Stream System Issue 104 [MIO Ex. C]] of [Appellants’] appeal
3 in this case.” [MIO 22] Thus, it appears that despite the district court’s order denying
4 Appellants’ motion, Appellants are still actively working within the water adjudication
5 process to vindicate their claims.
6 {6} Appellants argue that dismissal of the present appeal will “eliminate for decades
7 the ability of [Appellants] to seek redress for their collective [r]ights.” [MIO 23]
8 Further, Appellants claim “irreparable harm” from the “delay [in] the determination
9 of [Appellants’] [c]laim . . . .” [MIO 28] However, we note that Appellants have not
10 provided this Court with authority to support their argument that either the passage of
11 time or irreparable harm somehow converts a non-final order into a final one. Where
12 a party cites no authority to support an argument, we may assume no such authority
13 exists. In re Adoption of Doe, 1984-NMSC-024, ¶ 2, 100 N.M. 764, 676 P.2d 1329.
14 Therefore, we remain unconvinced that our proposed disposition was incorrect.
15 {7} To the extent that Appellants’ remaining contentions raise issues regarding the
16 merits of their motion to designate a stream system issue and the merits of their claims
17 more generally, we hold that we do not have jurisdiction to consider those matters
18 given the lack of a final, appealable order in this case.
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1 {8} For these reasons, and those in our calendar notice, we dismiss the appeal for
2 lack of a final, appealable order.
3 {9} IT IS SO ORDERED.
4 _______________________________
5 J. MILES HANISEE, Judge
6 WE CONCUR:
7 __________________________________
8 MICHAEL D. BUSTAMANTE, Judge
9 __________________________________
10 CYNTHIA A. FRY, Judge
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