Board of Water Works Trustees of the City of Des Moines v. Sac County Board of Supervisors
Annotate this CasePlaintiff in this case was a municipal waterworks that provides drinking water to central Iowans. Plaintiff sued Defendants - upstream drainage districts and their trustees - in federal court for money damages and other remedies to recover its costs to remove nitrates from the water of Raccoon River. The federal court certified questions of Iowa law to the Supreme Court. The Court answered (1) under Iowa law, drainage districts are granted unqualified immunity from damages claims; (2) Iowa precedent recognizes that drainage districts are immune from injunctive relief claims other than mandamus; (3) Plaintiff cannot assert protections afforded by the Iowa Constitution’s inalienable rights, due process, equal protection, and takings clauses against drainage districts as alleged in the complaint; and (4) Plaintiff does not have a property interest that may be the subject of a claim under the Iowa Constitution’s takings clause as alleged in the complaint.
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