ELR Citation: 56 ELR 20060
No(s). 17-9002 (Fed. Cl. Apr 22, 2026) (Smith, J.)

The Court of Federal Claims granted summary judgment for private property owners in Texas in a lawsuit concerning the Army Corps of Engineers' release of floodwaters from two reservoirs during a hurricane. The owners, whose downstream properties were flooded as a result of the release, argued the Corps' actions constituted both a temporary and permanent physical taking, and caused more flooding to their properties than if the Corps had never released the water. The court found the owners established that a temporary and a permanent taking occurred, that their properties suffered more flooding than if the Corps had kept the gates closed, that the Corps could not use the necessity defense to defeat liability because it invoked §7-05(b) from its Water Control Manual before an actual emergency posed an imminent danger to the reservoirs' structural integrity, and that the Corps' actions did not fall under its police powers. It granted summary judgment for the property owners.