Tri-State Materials Corp. v. United States

This case, before us on plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, presents a novel question. If the Government builds a dam with intent to enhance a waterway’s navigability, and in so doing raises the water table of land lying outside its bed to a level where drainage is restricted and subterranean flooding results causing economic loss to the landowner, is the loss compensable as a Fifth Amendment taking?1 While this question is rephrased in several ways by the parties herein, our answer to the generic question and to plaintiffs’ request for summary judgment is in the affirmative.

This case…