Opinion ID: 1653197
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant's Liability for Damages Under a Theory of Inverse Condemnation.

Text: We also consider whether, and under what circumstances, the plaintiffs on retrial should be permitted to show that the actions of the defendant may have constituted a taking of their property without just compensation. If a public flood control project, when functioning as it was designed to function, causes flooding to a particular area which would not have flooded in the absence of the improvement, an inverse condemnation claim may lie. See Wapsipinicon Power Co. v. Waterhouse, 186 Iowa 524, 530, 167 N.W. 623, 625 (1918); Iowa Power Co. v. Hoover, 166 Iowa 415, 440, 147 N.W. 858, 868 (1914); Belair v. Riverside County Flood Control Dist., 47 Cal.3d 550, 558-62, 764 P.2d 1070, 1074-76, 253 Cal.Rptr. 693, 697-700 (1988). Consequently, even if the court ultimately finds that the County is not liable for the increased flooding of plaintiffs' lands under a negligence theory, defendant's actions may have constituted a taking of private property without compensation. [4] The rule of causation to be applied in determining such a claim is cause in fact. A claimant must establish that the damage to property for which recovery is sought would not have occurred but for the public improvement. In the present case, this determination must be made solely with respect to the channel alteration, disregarding that portion of the increased flow caused by removing the old bridge abutments. With respect to permanent improvements, a cause of action for inverse condemnation accrues the first time damage occurs to lands or chattels real which was in fact caused by the improvement. Wapsipinicon Power Co., 186 Iowa at 527, 167 N.W. at 624-25. This cause of action belongs to the person owning the land, crops, or either at that time (or an assignee of such person). Id. That person or assignee must seek all damages both present and future in a single action. Id. This damage includes crop loss caused by the first flooding and future damages, ordinarily determined by the difference in the value of the land prior to and after the completion of the public improvement. Id. We further believe, although the California court in Belair suggests otherwise, that such liability does not require a showing that the public improvement has failed to function as intended. Indeed, we find that it is in those situations where the improvement has functioned as intended but, in the process, has done damage to private property that inverse condemnation liability is most appropriate. See Van Alstyne, Inverse Condemnation: Unintended Physical Damage, 20 Hastings L.J. 431, 435-38 (1969). We reverse the judgment of the district court and remand the case to that court for a retrial of the issues consistent with the rules of law established in this opinion. Hopefully, in this nonjury case the parties will agree to include much of the evidence presented at the first trial in the record on retrial. We do not, however, limit the scope of the evidence on retrial. REVERSED AND REMANDED.