Opinion ID: 525000
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Applicability of the James Court Interpretation

Text: 17 Under this broad interpretation, our sole inquiry to determine whether the Corps is immune from liability is whether the Mocklins' son drowned from or by flood water within the meaning of Sec. 702c. We conclude that he did. 5 18 The flotation channel in which the Mocklins allege the drowning occurred properly can be said to contain water related to flood control. The channels were dredged because the lake was not deep enough for the barges to have access to the shore. The barges were needed to deliver the equipment and materials used in the reinforcement of the levees to prevent flooding. The channels were inescapably part of a flood control project. 6 The inquiry ends then, and the Government is protected from any liability caused by these waters as it was in James. See also McCarthy v. United States, 850 F.2d 558 (9th Cir.1988),cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 1312, 103 L.Ed.2d 581 (1989) (waters of a multipurpose flood control project where the plaintiff was injured were flood waters within the James definition.) 19 Appellants argue that McCarthy and James are distinguishable because they involved accidents that resulted from water levels that were unsafe whereas under our facts it was not an increased water level that caused the accident. This accident occurred during the construction phase of the levees because of excavated channels. While in a different way from the prior cases, it is clear here that the water in the flotation channel causally did contribute to the drowning of the Mocklins' son: the channel created a significant drop-off in the lake. This distinction then does not change the result of immunity under both situations. Under both situations, the water can be said to have caused the injury. As the James court points out, Congress intended to protect the government from liability in the construction phase of the projects as well as in the maintenance of the projects once they were completed. James, 478 U.S. at 607, 106 S.Ct. at 3122. This conclusion is unassailable in view of the total immunity granted in the construction phase of the Mississippi River project whether or not high waters were present at the particular time.