Owners of Emptied Lake Win Right to Sue State

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a damage suit against the state by Ventura County property owners whose lake was emptied can go to trial in U.S. District Court.

After heavy rain in 1983, two slides occurred on the face of Sinaloa Dam. Officials of the nearby city of Simi Valley evacuated about 1,400 residents living below it and pumped some water out of the lake.

Two days later, when the water level was down 11 feet, the city decided that the emergency was over, and residents returned to their homes.

However, a week later, the California Department of Water Resources siphoned off the water because it said the dam was unsafe.

The action was taken the same afternoon that a Superior Court judge, after a hasty informal meeting with lawyers in chambers, declined to issue a restraining order sought by the owners.

Ninety percent of the water in Sinaloa Lake was removed, and the Sinaloa Lake Owners Assn. sued for damages, saying property values had declined.

A 1986 decision of U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie of Los Angeles barring the dispute from going to trial was reversed by the appeals court.

The 9th Circuit rejected several arguments from the plaintiffs but concluded that the case could go to trial on a claim that the plaintiffs had been unconstitutionally denied due process of law. They said the state should have given them adequate notice and should have conducted a hearing before taking action.

The property owners did not file suit in state courts, choosing instead to bring their action in federal courts.