Opinion ID: 536578
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Governmentally Caused Inundation

Text: 12 We agree with the district court that Congress intended to create a very broad grant of jurisdiction in the Clean Water Act, extending to any aquatic features within the reach of the commerce clause power. See Leslie Salt Co. v. Froehlke, 578 F.2d 742, 755 (9th Cir.1978) (citing California v. EPA, 511 F.2d 963, 964 n. 1 (9th Cir.1975), rev'd on other grounds, 426 U.S. 200, 96 S.Ct. 2022, 48 L.Ed.2d 578 (1976)). However, the district court made an exception to this broad Congressional mandate and held that changes to the property caused by the government do not create jurisdiction. The court reasoned that a contrary holding would allow the Corps to expand its own jurisdiction by creating some wetland conditions where none existed before. While this is a valid concern, the facts of this case do not present such a problem. 13 The district court relied upon United States v. City of Fort Pierre, 747 F.2d 464 (8th Cir.1984). In Fort Pierre, the Corps asserted section 404 jurisdiction over a dry slough that had begun to exhibit wetland characteristics as a direct result of the Corps' dredging activity on a nearby river. The Eighth Circuit held that the Corps did not have jurisdiction due to the peculiar facts and unique circumstances of that case, in which the Corps, as an unintended by-product of ordinary river maintenance, inadvertently create[d] a wetland-type ecological system on private property where no such system previously existed. Id. at 466, 481. The Eighth Circuit recently reaffirmed limiting Fort Pierre to these specific facts. See United States v. Southern Inv. Co., 876 F.2d 606, 612 (8th Cir.1989). 14 The factual situation in this case differs substantially from that in Fort Pierre. Here, the Corps was not directly and solely responsible for flooding Leslie's land: Caltrans constructed the culverts which allowed water to flow onto Leslie's property; Caltrans and the Fish and Wildlife Service breached the levee on the wildlife refuge adjacent to Leslie's property which allowed water to flow up the culverts; Caltrans and the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to place effective floodgates on the culverts; Leslie itself maintained floodgates which unknown third parties propped open. Contrary to the district court's conclusion, the Corps did not itself create the wetland conditions and thereby attempt to expand its own jurisdiction. 7 15 The fact that third parties, including the government, are responsible for flooding Leslie's land is irrelevant. The Corps' jurisdiction does not depend on how the property at issue became a water of the United States. Congress intended to regulate local aquatic ecosystems regardless of their origin. See, e.g., Swanson v. United States, 789 F.2d 1368 (9th Cir.1986) (Corps construction of a dam creates waters under Corps jurisdiction); United States v. Tull, 769 F.2d 182, 184 (4th Cir.1985) (federal construction of mosquito-control ditch creates waters under Rivers and Harbors Act jurisdiction), rev'd on other grounds, 481 U.S. 412, 414 n. 1, 107 S.Ct. 1831, 1834 n. 1, 95 L.Ed.2d 365 (1987); United States v. DeFelice, 641 F.2d at 1175 (illegal and unauthorized acts of third parties can create Rivers and Harbors Act jurisdiction), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 940, 102 S.Ct. 474, 70 L.Ed.2d 247 (1981); Track 12 Inc. v. District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 618 F.Supp. 448, 449 (D.Minn.1985) (state and locality construction of highway and sewage system creates Corps jurisdiction). If the Corps' regulations under Clean Water Act jurisdiction harm a landowner, her appropriate response is to seek damages through inverse condemnation proceedings, not to restrict the scope of Corps jurisdiction. Riverside Bayview Homes, 474 U.S. at 128, 106 S.Ct. at 459.