Opinion ID: 1698436
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Vestavia or Hoover has assumed a duty by incorporating Patton Creek into its respective drainage system.

Text: Surface water has flowed down adjoining mountainous terrain into and through Patton Creek for hundreds of years. There is no evidence indicating that Vestavia or Hoover has constructed devices to direct water that would not otherwise naturally flow through or into Patton Creek. In Lott, this Court held that in order for the City to be held liable for any damages caused by its failure to act, it must also be shown that the water from the City's drainage system, rather than the natural drainage of surface water, caused the damage complained of by the plaintiff.  539 So.2d at 244 (emphasis added). Unlike Lott, in which Daphne purposefully constructed a series of underground pipes and junction boxes to redirect surface water through one area of Mazie's Gulch, there is no evidence here indicating that Vestavia or Hoover constructed a drainage system that directed surface water, other than by natural drainage, into Patton Creek. We conclude that neither Vestavia nor Hoover has undertaken a duty to maintain Patton Creek because the cities have not purposefully directed into Patton Creek water that would not otherwise naturally flow through the creek.