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Complaint in Crowley Nature Center Vs. Southwest Water Management

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Complaint in Crowley Nature Center Vs. Southwest Water Management IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE TWELFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR SARASOTA COUNTY, FLORIDA CROWLEY MUSEUM AND NATURE CENTER, INC., A Florida Corporation, Plaintiff, Case No. 2002-CA-015283NC v. SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT, SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD, CLASSIE GROWERS, LLC, et al., Defendants. ______________________________/ FOURTH AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR INVERSE CONDEMNATION, TRESPASS, NUISANCE, AND NEGLIGENCE Plaintiff, Crowley Museum and Nature Center, sues defendants and alleges: 1. This is an action for inverse condemnation, trespass, negligence, and private and public nuisance for damages that exceed $15,000 and for injunctive relief. As of the date of this amended complaint, thousands of trees on the lands of Plaintiff have died, are dying, or are at risk of dying as a result of excess irrigation 1 water flowing off defendants’ property and onto downstream lands of Plaintiff. A representational map showing the locations of the Upper Myakka River, Flatford Swamp, the agricultural defendants, and the Crowley Museum and Nature Center is attached as Exhibit A. 2. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to §§ 26.012(2)(a) and (f), Florida Statutes. 3. Venue is proper pursuant to §§ 47.011, 47.021, and 47.051, Florida Statutes, because the cause of action accrued in Sarasota County and because all of the defendants engaged in wrongful acts or omissions which combined to produce a single injury to the lands of the Plaintiff. STATEMENT OF FACTS Parties 4. At all times mentioned in this complaint, the Crowley Museum and Nature Center (“Nature Center”) was and still is located at 16405 Myakka Road, Sarasota, Florida 34240. 5. The Nature Center is a Florida non-profit corporation which owns a large tract of land in Sarasota County, Florida. The Nature Center lies directly west of the Myakka River, is bounded on the south and west by County Road 780, and lies just north of the County Road 780 bridge over the Myakka River. 2 6. The Nature Center encompasses a wide range of biological communities, from high pinelands to hardwoods bordering the Myakka River. The Nature Center was established in 1974 to protect the natural habitats and wildlife indigenous to the area and to educate the public about the natural and cultural history of Southwest Florida. It is managed as a nature preserve and environmental education center. 7. The hardwood forest communities of the Nature Center are contiguous with the Myakka River and are therefore vulnerable to any upstream changes to the quantity and timing of river flows (hydroperiod), as well as changes in water quality. “Hydroperiod” is the depth, duration, frequency, and seasonality of flooding. 8. As a wildlife sanctuary and in conjunction with nearby state-owned lands such as the Myakka River State Park, the Nature Center supports sandhill cranes and other native species. 9. The Nature Center’s forests historically consisted of a mixed hardwood canopy including trees such as southern maple, tupelo, popash, ironwood, laurel oaks, and live oaks. 10. Live oaks and laurel oaks are included in the hammocks (hardwood forests) within the Nature Center. The large northern hammock area had many 3 hickory trees interspersed among the oaks, but the hickory trees are now almost all dead standing trees. 11. The Nature Center has constructed a boardwalk that crosses through the Nature Center’s forest lands. Along with other aesthetic and educational amenities, there is a lookout tower with a view of the Myakka River and adjacent marshes at the end of the boardwalk. 12. Plaintiffs are entitled to exclusive title, possession, and control of the property above the ordinary high water line of the river. 13. Defendant, Southwest Florida Water Management District is a special taxing district charged with the duty of regulating and protecting water resources within its boundaries. Those boundaries encompass the entire Myakka River watershed. 14. Defendant Southwest Florida Water Management District’s address is 2379 Broad Street, Brooksville, Florida 34604-6899. 15. Defendant Governing Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District is located at the same address and is joined as a defendant as required by Chapter 373.444, Florida Statutes. Throughout this complaint, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and its Governing Board will be referred to singly as the “WMD.” 4 16. The WMD administers a water management system that includes permitting of water use and regulation of surface waters. As part of its water management activities, the WMD approves and funds surface water and tailwater recovery programs and systems to regulate surface water flow. 17. Water use permits issued by the WMD for agricultural uses of water allow permittees to use ground water for “flood irrigation” or “water table management.” This is an extremely wasteful irrigation practice that supplies water to crops by raising the water table to a level within the plants’ root zone. Flood irrigation is particularly intense in the Upper Myakka watershed during the Spring and Fall dry seasons. 18. This practice is possible in the Upper Myakka River watershed area north of the Nature Center because there is a shallow impermeable layer (“hardpan”) beneath the surface of the soil that prevents rapid drainage of the irrigation water into deep groundwater aquifers. 19. Instead of “disappearing” underground, excess irrigation water generated by the practice of flood irrigation, which takes the form of both surface runoff and underground discharges (lateral flood), flows or seeps down slope until it collects in the area with the lowest topographical relief in the Upper Myakka River watershed – an area known as Flatford Swamp. See Exhibit A. 5 20. In 1991, in recognition of it unique environmental characteristics and the major influence the Swamp has on the flow regime (hydroperiod) and water quality of the Myakka River downstream from the Swamp including the portion of the river which flows past the Nature Center, the WMD purchased 2,357 acres of Flatford Swamp under Florida’s Save Our Rivers land acquisition program. 21. In a resource evaluation required as part of the acquisition, the WMD specifically recognized that “the proposed acquisition site represents a valuable wetland ecosystem that is dependent on appropriate surface water levels and hydroperiods to sustain its function, as well as those of the downstream river.” 22. Due to its hydrological characteristics, the Upper Myakka River watershed is described in regulatory parlance as a “volume sensitive basin.” 23. The amount of ground water that is being added to the Upper Myakka River basin is evidenced by the drawdown of the underground aquifer that supplies the irrigation water. Withdrawals by the tomato and vegetable farmers in this region have lowered the aquifer by over fifty feet – the most severe drawdown of aquifer levels anywhere in the entire state of Florida. 24. The WMD now uses Flatford Swamp as a runoff detention basin for these excess irrigation flows. 25. Defendant Classie Growers, L.L.C. (“Classie Growers”) is a Florida 6 corporation with its principal place of business at 4555 Verna Bethany Road, Myakka City, Florida 34251. Classie Growers is owned and operated by defendant John Falkner. 26. Classie Growers operates a 9,230-acre farm, approximately 4,600 acres of which lie within the Upper Myakka River drainage basin upstream of the Nature Center. This farm is commonly referred to as “Classie Farms.” 27. Defendant Classie Growers uses a combination of drip irrigation and flood irrigation to supply water to its vegetable row crops. 28. Defendant Four Star Tomato, Inc. (“Four Star”) is a Florida corporation with its principal place of business at 1205 28th Avenue East, Palmetto, Florida 34222. 29. Four Star’s Long Creek Farm covers 1,240 acres, approximately 1,000 acres of which lie within the Upper Myakka River drainage basin upstream of the Nature Center. 30. Defendant Four Star uses solely flood irrigation to supply water to its vegetable row crops. 31. Defendant Crystal Advisors Corporation is a corporation existing under the laws of the British Virgin Islands and has appointed Bardels Management, Inc. to act as its agent for purposes of the Crystal Advisors property 7 at issue in the instant action. Bardels Management’s principal place of business is located at 3930 Inverrary Blvd., Suite 201, Lauderhill, Florida 33319. 32. Crystal Advisors operates a 3,100-acre farm that lies entirely within the Upper Myakka River drainage basin upstream of the Nature Center. 33. Crystal Advisors uses a combination of drip irrigation and flood irrigation to supply water to its vegetable row crops. 34. Defendant S.C.F. Farms, Inc. is a Florida corporation with its principal place of business at 12740 Curley Street, San Antonio, Florida 33576. 35. S.C.F. Farms operates a 2,875-acre farm that lies within the Upper Myakka River drainage basin upstream of the Nature Center. 36. Defendant S.C.F. Farms uses a combination of drip irrigation and flood irrigation to supply water to its vegetable row crops. 37. Defendant John Falkner’s principal place of business is 4555 Verna Bethany Road, Myakka City, Florida 34251. 38. John Falkner operates a 988-acre farm known as “Bear Bay Road Farm,” approximately 300 acres of which lie within the Upper Myakka River drainage basin upstream of the Nature Center. 39. John Falkner operates a 1,850-acre farm known as “Falkner Farm,” approximately 700 acres of which lie within the Upper Myakka River drainage 8 basin upstream of the Nature Center. 40. Defendant John Falkner uses flood irrigation to supply water to irrigate the vegetable row crops on Bear Bay Road Farm and Falkner Farm. 41. Defendants John Falkner and Thomas Falkner’s principal place of business is 4555 Verna Bethany Road, Myakka City, Florida 34251. 42.
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