Drained-Lake Suit Goes to County Court : Simi Valley: A ‘forest of paper’ has sprouted in the seven-year-old case. Homeowners say their property values fell and their houses were damaged.

In the seven years since state engineers drained Sinaloa Lake behind a failing dam in Simi Valley, two forests have grown: one in the dry lake bed and another in the courts.

This week, the “forest of paper,” which attorneys say has been filed in state and federal courts since the homeowners sued the state in 1983 for draining the 12-acre lake near their homes, arrived in Ventura County Superior Court.

The Sinaloa Lake Owners Assn. sued the California Division of Safety of Dams and the city of Simi Valley in July. It is asking for $10 million in damages because of alleged property devaluation and physical damage to their houses since Lake Sinaloa was drained during heavy rains.

The suit against the state and city was filed in Los Angeles County to avoid conflict of interest between a local court and the city.

But a Los Angeles judge ruled that the Ventura County court could decide on its own whether it would be able to be impartial, said Marlena Mouser, an attorney for the homeowners.

The complex case was born in March, 1983, when heavy rains filled Lake Sinaloa to within several feet of overflowing a 30-foot-high and 800-foot-long earthen dam.

The suit maintains that a city-owned water line through the dam, which had been built by a farmer in the 1920s, had burst and contributed to the erosion. But Henry Walsh, an attorney representing Simi Valley, said the line had not been leaking.

As the water rose and earth began to fall away from the outside of the dam, state and city engineers became concerned that the dam would burst and flood downstream properties.

At 11 p.m. March 2, the city ordered the neighborhoods near the dam evacuated. But by March 3, the rain had stopped and the state Division of Safety of Dams took over the site and ordered the lake level lowered, according to the suit.

The evacuees were allowed to return on March 5, the suit says. By March 8, the lake had been lowered by 19 feet, and no more rain was falling. Then on March 10, officials from the state Division of Safety of Dams ordered the lake drained and the dam breached, the suit says.

“They didn’t tell us anything; they just drained it,” said Robert Ain, who owns a lake-front house that now looks out at a mass of trees and brush. “They came down on Friday afternoon, set up the lights and worked all night. How would you feel if somebody took your lake away from you?”

Simi Valley has denied any liability in the case, Walsh said. The city argues, he said, that there is no evidence that the pipe in the dam leaked and adds that the state alone decided to drain the lake and breach the dam.

The state Division of Safety of Dams argues that the lake had to be drained.

“The bottom line is that this was an emergency action and the dam in its condition after the slides and the rainstorm was a public nuisance,” Deputy Atty. Gen. Joel Davis said. “Our point is that homeowners are not entitled to reimbursement for actions the state took to protect the downstream property owners and the lives of the persons downstream.”

As the water table beneath the empty lake bed receded, the homeowners’ suit alleges, the land beneath the homes settled and some foundations and walls cracked.

Homeowner William Hull said he has spent about $5,000 to repair cracks in his walls and swimming pool caused by the receding land.

The Sinaloa Lake Owners Assn. originally sued the state and city in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles over the destruction of just the lake, alleging that the group had not been given due process in the decision to drain it and breach the dam.

U.S. District Court Judge Edward Rafeedie dismissed the suit in 1986, but on appeal, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the due process claims and ordered the judge to take up the case again. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the state’s appeal of the 9th Circuit Court ruling.

Now, Rafeedie is considering a request for an injunction by the homeowners, who want the state ordered to rebuild the dam. Rafeedie also is considering a motion from Simi Valley to dismiss the due process claims.

And in July, the homeowners filed the suit that was transferred to Ventura County Superior Court on Wednesday, guaranteeing that the seven-year-old fight will continue.

“It’s been a long, drawn-out fight, but the people in the lake association are very determined to set things right,” Ain said.

Hull said the homeowners knew that their suit could take years to resolve. He said, “I think everyone of us had our eyes open when we went into it.”