Smith v. BD. OF CTY. ROAD COMRS. OF CHIPPEWA CTY.

Plaintiff claims damages for defendant’s trespass upon and flooding his property. Defendant raises as defense an act of Rod. The main question in the case is whether that defense was properly left to the jury as a question of fact.

A low area or basin, about five acres in size, was surrounded by roads on the west, north, and east sides. To the south was a hill and an area of several hundred acres which drained into the five-acre basin.

For years prior to 1957 water accumulating in the basin each spring from thawing snows and rains escaped through an 18-inch culvert under the west road and…