City of Longmont v. Henry-Hobbs

I. Introduction

A young boy drowned while tubing in an irrigation ditch in the City of Longmont. His mother brought a wrongful death action against the city, contending that the ditch was part of the city's water sanitation system. In this case, as in the recent case of City of Colorado Springs v. Powell, 48 P.3d 561 (Colo.2002), we apply a provision of the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA) that waives immunity for injuries resulting from the operation and maintenance of a sanitation facility.

We hold that the irrigation ditch at issue here is a sanitation facility for the purposes of…