Attorney Files To Dismiss Portion Of Des Moines Water Works Lawsuit

Drainage districts in Iowa have little authority to do anything other than drain land, writes Sioux City Journal’s Nick Hytrek in the latest to come out on the controversial Des Moines Water Works lawsuit.

And because their duties are so limited under state law, they can’t be sued for damages that result from actions over which the districts have no control, said a lawyer for three Northwest Iowa counties being sued by a Des Moines water utility over high nitrate levels found in two Iowa rivers.

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“These entities can’t do anything about it. They can’t control the land. They do what they’re told to do. They are merely a vehicle set by the Legislature to drain land,” said Michael Reck, a Des Moines attorney who represents the boards of supervisors in Buena Vista, Sac and Calhoun counties.

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Reck was in U.S. District Court in Sioux City Monday arguing in support of a motion filed in September asking U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett to dismiss eight of the 10 counts filed against the drainage districts. Those counts include nuisance, negligence, trespassing, taking without just compensation and due process and equal protection claims.

Des Moines Water Works filed suit in March, claiming the boards of supervisors of Buena Vista, Sac and Calhoun counties, serving as trustees of the drainage districts within their borders, are violating the federal Clean Water Act by not doing enough to reduce the amount of nitrates in water that runs into the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers and their tributaries, the primary source of water for Des Moines.

Head over to SiouxCityJournal.com to take in Hytrek’s full dispatch on the situation in Des Moines.

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