Opinion ID: 1559181
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: APCo's Common-Law and Federally Imposed Duties

Text: This Court has stated: It is settled by our decisions that one who constructs a dam in a navigable stream is not an insurer against damages to lower owners, even when such damages are caused by the breaking of the dam. Some element of negligent conduct must appear. Alabama Power Co. v. Smith, 229 Ala. 105, 111, 155 So. 601, 604 (1934). Regarding the duty owed by the operator of a dam to downstream landowners, this Court has more recently stated: The law in Alabama is clear that an action which asserts liability for damages for the release of water will not lie in the absence of negligence. This Court has consistently held that one who owns or operates a dam owes a duty to lower riparian owners only to exercise reasonable care in operating or maintaining the dam. Ellis v. Alabama Power Co., 431 So.2d 1242, 1245 (Ala.1983). In Ellis, landowners on the Coosa River between Lay Dam and Mitchell Dam sued APCo, alleging negligence, trespass, and nuisance in connection with the flooding of their property in 1979. The trial court entered a summary judgment in APCo's favor, and the landowners appealed. The evidence showed that APCo had operated Mitchell Dam and Lay Dam and Logan Martin Dam, which is upstream from the Mitchell and Lay Dams, subject to and in compliance with regulations of the Corps of Engineers. The evidence also showed that the peak discharge from Logan Martin Dam during the 1979 flood was not greater than would have occurred under natural conditions, i.e., if there had been no dam. 431 So.2d at 1243-44. This Court determined that APCo was not liable in nuisance because the landowners complained of a public nuisance and had no private right of action. 431 So.2d at 1244. Regarding trespass, this Court concluded that the landowners had failed to show that APCo's actions were unlawful or wrongful. With respect to negligence, this Court clarified the duty owed to a lower riparian landowner as quoted above and agreed with the trial court's finding that the landowners failed to meet the burden of proof of negligence. This Court also noted that the landowners had not cited any authority imposing on APCo the duty to acquire an additional storage easement. The Ellis Court buttressed its findings of failure to offer evidence of wrongful, unlawful, or negligent conduct with dicta as to absence of evidence of causation, stating: Further, even assuming arguendo that there was a showing of negligence on the part of APCo, there was no showing by plaintiffs that this negligence proximately caused in fact the damage to their property ( i.e. that absent the dams their property would not have been flooded to the same extent or perhaps more so). Ellis, 431 So.2d at 1246. The Court noted that APCo's operation of Mitchell Dam had actually mitigated the flooding of the landowners' properties. In Ellis, this Court found uncontradicted evidence of compliance with federal regulations to be incompatible with a claim of breach of duty to a lower riparian landowner. The farmers attempt to distinguish Ellis on the basis that the dams at issue in that case were subject to regulations of the Corps of Engineers while Martin Dam was not. However, the evidence showed that APCo's operation of Martin Dam was subject to federal regulation in the form of the FERC licenses for Martin and Thurlow Dams. Although they were not as detailed as the regulations of the Corps of Engineers, at all times relevant to this action the FERC licenses imposed specific duties on APCo with respect to its operation of Martin Dam. For example, the operating curve of the 1978 FERC license for Martin Dam specified that APCo was to maintain the lake level between 489 and 490 feet. Additionally, the FERC licenses specified that during flood periods APCo was not to operate Martin Dam with a rate of outflow greater than the concurrent rate of inflow. Furthermore, the FERC licenses required APCo to communicate and coordinate with the Corps of Engineers with respect to its flood-control operations. The record shows that the FERC licenses govern many other aspects of APCo's operation of Martin Dam as well. In light of the extensive federal involvement in APCo's operation of Martin Dam via the FERC licenses, it is apparent that Martin Dam is part of a general scheme of federal coordination and regulation of navigable waterways, including coordination with the Corps of Engineers. We do not find the fact that Martin Dam is not subject to detailed Corps of Engineers regulations to be a material point of distinction between this action and Ellis. As in Ellis, APCo complied with the federal regulations governing its operation of Martin Dam during the floods at issue in this action. Pursuant to the FERC licenses, APCo maintained lake levels within the operating curve before the May and July 2003 floods; communicated and coordinated with the Corps of Engineers during the floods; and maintained outflows less than the concurrent rate of inflow. The farmers argue that APCo did not actually comply with the requirements of its FERC license because it operated pursuant to the flood-control operations stated in the 1978 amendment to Settlement Exhibit H and that amendment had not been expressly approved by the FERC. However, the evidence presented to the trial court from the farmers' expert shows that this distinction is irrelevant. As to both the May and July 2003 floods, the farmers' expert testified that APCo's operation under the flood-control procedures stated in Settlement Exhibit H instead of those stated in the 1978 amendment would not have made any appreciable difference in the flooding that occurred downstream. Accordingly, APCo's compliance with the flood-control requirements in the 1978 amendment instead of Settlement Exhibit H is immaterial. The evidence shows that the 1978 amendment and Settlement Exhibit H were identical with respect to the lake level of the Martin reservoir, the farmers' primary area of grievance. They were also identical with respect to APCo's general operating requirements during flood flows. The evidence showed that APCo complied with those requirements and satisfied its federally imposed duties with respect to the operation of Martin Dam during the May and July 2003 floods. Additionally, it is apparent from the record that APCo's activities during the floods lessened the outflows from Martin Dam such that the flooding that did occur downstream was less than what would have occurred naturally. Accordingly, the evidence showed that APCo complied with its common-law duty not cause greater flooding than would have occurred naturally.