South Fork Ranch v. The Nature Conservancy
This appeal is governed by res judicata and collateral estoppel. The parties own contiguous parcels of land near the Santa Clara River in Ventura County. In 2013, the trial court adjudicated a declaratory relief action regarding an easement, brought by appellant South Fork Ranch, LLC (South Fork) against R. Eric King and respondents David Bunn, Ellen Birrell, and the Nature Conservancy (TNC) (South Fork I). The trial court declared that South Fork and King “no longer have easement rights which would permit them to substantially alter or remove the revetment wall or groins,” referring to a flood protection barrier that impedes appellants’ construction of a water well on respondents’ property.
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