Opinion ID: 901273
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Long Lake

Text: [¶ 6.] The area known as Long Lake is located two miles east of Lily, South Dakota. [3] Directly north of Long Lake is a meandered body of water known as Horseshoe Lake. Due to the flooding of the 1990s, the water covering the land in Long Lake pushed so far north that it ran over the county road and into Horseshoe Lake. Currently, the two bodies of water are now connected by a culvert under the county road. The combined lakes have 2686 surface acres of water and a depth of fifteen feet. [¶ 7.] From the time of settlement in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Long Lake land could best be characterized as pasture and farmland, dotted by small sloughs holding seasonal moisture. Before the recent flooding, and within recorded history, the deepest water that covered any part of this area was approximately four to five feet in depth. [4] Typically, this water was located in the small sloughs on the property. The land currently covered by water in the Long Lake area was consistently used by its owners for farming, grazing, and haying, depending on the amount of moisture. [¶ 8.] Historically, the Long Lake area has been suitable for trapping furbearing mammals, such as muskrat and mink, and some trapping has occurred there. In 1917 and the 1940s, waterfowl were hunted in the Long Lake area. Recently, Long Lake has been used by members of the public who have gained access from public rights of way for fishing, ice fishing, and snowmobiling. [¶ 9.] The State's geomorphology expert, Dr. Jim Richardson, studied soil surveys, topographic mapping, aerial photography, and climatic data. He also conducted a field visit. At trial, Dr. Richardson interpreted the aerial photographic evidence. [5] It revealed that in 1939 there was no standing water in the area; however, the soil in parts of the area remained moist even in the late summer following a lengthy drought. Similarly, in 1979, a normal year for precipitation in that area, the aerial photographs showed that there was no standing water, other than the water in the dugouts constructed during the 1950s and 1960s to water livestock. Finally, the photographic evidence from 1991, another normal year for precipitation, illustrates that there was only one small area of standing water and it was less than waist deep. [¶ 10.] Dr. Richardson further opined that strong wave action had previously occurred around Long and Horseshoe Lakes and formed a continuous beach or strandline around the combined water bodies. He noted that these strandlines existed well before the 1939 aerial photograph as numerous strandlines were visible in that photo. In fact, Dr. Richardson estimated that the largest strandlines were created approximately eight or nine thousand years ago. The State argues that the strandline is in approximately the same place as the perimeter of the lake in 1998. On the other hand, the landowners note that Dr. Richardson agreed that there has never been as much water covering the Long Lake area as there is now. All the evidence shows that Long Lake has never been as large as it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s.