Opinion ID: 1250356
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: inundation in 1983 and 1984

Text: In April 1983, the river's flow began to increase and eventually reached 5,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) at a point west of the highway bridge, where the river overflowed its north bank and flooded part of Hughes' farm. At the point of overflow, the river's flow persistently exceeded 5,500 cfs from the spring of 1983 until the fall of that year. According to Marvin Hughes, in the spring of 1983 the river's overflow inundated his land west of the highway, resulting in standing water, with a depth of 1 foot, covering part of the cropland and a muddy condition on the remaining cropland west of the highway. Such condition existed until September 1983. Hughes' land east of the highway became unusable on account of a condition which Hughes attributed to seepage, that is, water had come up from underneath the land's surface and created a damp condition, which existed until disappearance of the overflow on the land west of the highway. The same patterns and conditions recurred in 1984 whenever the river's flow reached 5,500 cfs in the bridge-dam area. Hughes claimed that Enterprise's diversion dam caused the river to back up, resulting in the river's overflow onto Hughes' farm. Enterprise denied that its conduct or structure caused any damage to Hughes. Therefore, the crucial and dispositive question is: Did Enterprise's diversion dam cause the overflow?