Senate Discusses Bill To Grant Immunity To Canal Companies

A new bill being discussed in the Idaho Senate could relieve the companies that own canals of any liability, should they flood.

The bill passed the House yesterday, and could affect the people in Ammon who are dealing with flood damage from Wednesday night.

“Mud and dirt and grime from the canal,” Ashley High said as she surveyed the damage at her neighbor’s now-vacant home. “Their kids’ rooms are tossed around, their clothes — they don’t have any clothes to wear right now. It’s destroyed.”

High and her family are one of few families left on Tildy Circle in Ammon after water from a nearby canal rushed in.

She was watching television when her neighbor’s 8-year-old daughter came knocking on the door. The little girl’s parents were out celebrating their 10th anniversary and their basement was flooding fast.

The family is now staying at a hotel, with damage to their home estimated to be around $50,000, according to High.

High said her neighbors called the company that owns the flooded canal, to file a claim.

“The guy [on the phone] kind of laughed at them and said that, ‘We hope you have a good attorney, because we do.'”

If House Bill 398 makes it through the Senate, the company won’t have to pay a cent.

“If there is an act of God or an act by a third party … the owners and operators of the ditch are not responsible,” explained Barbara Jordan, president of the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association, of the bill.

The bill passed Wednesday in the House of Representatives, 57 votes to 11.

“To have that thrown in your face when you’re going through a really tough time, is pretty disheartening,” High said.

Our attempts to contact Norm Semanko, who heads the Idaho Water Users Association and proposed H.B. 938, were unsuccessful.

The Bonneville County Sheriff’s office says snowmelt caused the flood, which would be considered an act of God.

The sheriff’s office is keeping a close eye on the canal and monitoring water levels.