Carlotto, Ltd. v. County of Ventura

On January 25, 1969, during an extremely heavy rainstorm, plaintiff Carlotto’s property was inundated by silt when a flood control system overflowed. The system was operated by defendants County of Ventura and the Ventura County Flood Control District. After a court trial, plaintiff obtained a judgment for about 12 percent of its total damage, or $55,000. Plaintiff appealed and defendants cross-appealed; the cross-appeal has been abandoned.

Facts

Most of the basic facts are undisputed.

Plaintiff is a plumbing fixture manufacturer located near the community of Piru in Ventura County. Up the hill from plaintiff’s plant lies the Warring Canyon debris basin. Below the plant is the Santa Clara River. The basin and the river are connected by a flood control channel.

The Warring Canyon debris basin consisted of the following elements. First, there was an earthen dam. Behind the dam a basin wás scooped out. The basin had a water level debris capacity of about 12.7 acre feet—or 43,560 cubic feet; however, since debris comes to rest on a slope, its actual capacity was between 23.3 and 38.5 acre feet. A concrete spillway in the dam was designed to carry water into the channel…