Flood Victims Blame, Sue Tacoma Utility

A group of property owners battered by a Cowlitz River flood in November 1995 has sued Tacoma Public Utilities for $5 million, saying the agency was negligent in failing to control the high water.

The lawsuit also accuses emergency officials in Cowlitz and Lewis counties of failing to give residents adequate warning of the flood.

Lawyers for the 78 landowners had announced in November they would file the suit. Each property owner first had to file a claim against the utility and the state, which is liable for any failings of county emergency agencies. The claims, which ranged from $20,000 to $40,000, were rejected.

The flood caused an estimated $6.4 million damage in Cowlitz County, and also hit Lewis County hard.

Tacoma utility officials were criticized for dumping huge volumes of water from the dams. At the time, the level of Riffe Lake behind Mossyrock Dam was 20 feet over the drawdown target specified in the dam’s federal license, which requires the utility to manage for flood control.

Utility officials maintained they were lowering the lake and would have met a Dec. 1 drawdown target if the storm had not hit.

“Tacoma interprets their license to mean that they were allowed to do what they did - that it was proper. We’re saying it was not proper and, two, it wasn’t prudent management apart from the license. That’s going to be the real issue,” said Ken Sheppard, the plaintiffs’ Seattle attorney.

The lawsuit could be affected by a 1975 case, in which Utah Power & Light Co. was found negligent in a flood along the Bear River. The utility only voluntarily offered flood control at its hydroelectric project, but was judged liable because landowners had come to rely on its practices, and because the utility failed to heed warnings of heavy spring runoff, Sheppard said.