Marty v. State Of Idaho

786 P.2d 524 (1989)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The Mud Lake area is comprised of the presently diked area of Mud Lake and adjacent low-lying farmlands. Prior to the diking of Mud Lake, the lands now owned by the landowners had been subjected to periodic flooding because they were located in a 100-year floodplain. On June 3, 1983, the board of commissioners of Jefferson County declared the area surrounding Mud Lake to be a flood emergency area and requested assistance from the governor of the State of Idaho. It was immediately recognized that the failure of the dikes would result in serious flooding. In a combined effort, the governmental agencies, the Army Corps of Engineers, the canal companies, the water users, and numerous volunteers responded to the impending flood. On June 12, 1984, the board of commissioners of Jefferson County declared the existence of a state of emergency because of the flooding of land adjacent to Mud Lake, including that of P. The governor of the state of Idaho did the same on June 14, 1984. Flooding of the farmland of the landowners commenced in April 1984. Water remained standing on these lands throughout the year. Similar flooding occurred in 1985. Ps sued Ds for trespass, strict liability, negligence and inverse condemnation seeking damages and injunctive relief against the governmental agencies, the canal companies, and the water users. D moved for summary judgment, in that their actions and decisions were immunized under several Idaho statutes. The trial court granted summary judgment dismissing all of the claims of Ps. Ps appealed.