Powers, et. al. v. Valparaiso Lakes Area Conservancy District 

BACKGROUND:

Irresponsible land use decisions resulting in the destruction of natural landscapes for strip malls and parking lots in Valparaiso, Indiana have significantly reduced natural buffers such as wetlands and wooded areas within the Flint Lake watershed that once served to prevent soil erosion, runoff and flooding.

Unfortunately, residents who live in the unincorporated area of the City around Flint Lake were unable to influence or legally challenge these short-sighted decisions. In addition, the Valparaiso Lakes Area Conservancy District (VLACD), to which the residents paid and continue to pay monthly assessments, failed to fulfill its statutory obligation to provide adequate drainage, erosion and flood control services.

Without adequate drainage systems or naturally protective buffer areas, every measurable storm event now brings several feet of stormwater, often containing sewage, into the residents’ homes and property.

Jan. 8, 2008: LEAF’s client, Susan Powers, surveys her property that has been flooded again due to VLACD’s failure to provide adequate drainage and flood control services.

Photo by Post-Tribune photographer Michael McArdle/STNG

In 1957, the Indiana General Assembly passed the Indiana Conservancy District Act [Ind. Code § 14-33]. The Act provides a legal means by which landowners can organize a special taxing district to solve problems related to water resources management including flood prevention and control, improving drainage, preventing loss of topsoil from injurious water erosion, and other water resource management issues. Once a conservancy district is formed, the Act imposes a mandatory, non-discretionary duty on the district’s Board of Directors to exercise its powers to accomplish each purpose for which the district is established.

Indiana courts have interpreted this provision to impose a clear duty on a district board of directors to construct the necessary fixtures to fulfill the district’s purposes and to maintain those fixtures properly. In addition to its non-discretionary duties, a conservancy district board can be held liable in tort for erecting, maintaining or contributing to a nuisance within its district.

On January 14, 2008, LEAF sent a demand letter to the VLACD’s Board of Directors on behalf of seven residents whose homes and property have been severely damaged from continuous flooding for more than ten years. LEAF’s letter threatened to bring a lawsuit unless VLACD agrees to develop, construct and maintain adequate and necessary drainage systems in the area to alleviate flooding of LEAF’s clients’ homes and protect the water quality of Flint Lake. To avoid litigation, VLACD agreed to work with LEAF to design and implement a meaningful, long-term solution.

RESOURCES:

• January 14, 2008: LEAF’s demand letter to VLACD

• February 5, 2008: LEAF’s follow up letter to VLACD’s attorney

January 10, 2008: You Just want to Scream, Gitte Laasby, Post-Tribune

http://www.post-trib.com/news/734728,vflood.article

January 13, 2008: Tired of Flooding, Residents Demand Action, Phil Wieland, Northwest Indiana Times

http://nwi.com/articles/2008/01/13/news/top_news/doc1136c49ed411000