Reference no: EM133683803

Question

Johnny Appleseed owns a 356 acre fruit orchard with scenic river frontage along the Floodsalot River which he purchased in 1976. Early in the 1930s, the state government received money from the federal government to be used on projects that would stimulate the economy and create jobs. Starting in 1934, the state began to erect a dam 4 miles upstream from what would become Johnny's property. The dam was completed in 1939 and provided electricity, water for drinking, flood control and recreational activities on the reservoir.

In 1996, the state experienced an unusually rainy winter and that spring, after almost 60 years of reliability, the dam began to show evidence of stress and leaks began to appear. Engineers conducted an emergency inspection of the dam and concluded that water must be released quickly or the valley below might run the risk of a catastrophic flood.

Acknowledging that releasing water in the manner recommended would cause some limited flooding, the agency responsible for operating the dam released the water.

Sadly, Johnny's fruit orchard was flooded and, as a result, he lost his crop for that year. In addition, many of the fruit trees in his orchard were damaged beyond repair and Johnny was faced with the expensive prospect of replacing these trees and waiting several years for the trees to mature enough to bear fruit.