Federal appeal court says feds at fault for recurring flooding along MO River basin

A federal appeals court says the federal government is at fault for recurring flooding that has damaged farms and property along the Missouri River basin dating back to 2007. 

Seth Wright, attorney for the plaintiffs, says a lawsuit filed in 2014 includes more than 370 landowners from Missouri and five other states. He says the changes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made caused flooding along the river — which the court also ruled violated the 5th Amendment.

According to Wright:  “The next appeal from this would be to the United States Supreme Court,” he says, “so, we’ll have to wait and see what the government does and whether they want to appeal this ruling.” 

Wright says the ruling was a massive win, favoring compensation for crop losses, damages from the 2011 floods, among other things.