Lake draws disagreement over eminent domain

By Ken Root

Water is an issue, even in Iowa, where efforts to locate new multi-purpose lakes have been forestalled by property rights legislation passed by the legislature and reinforced by an override of the governor's veto. The forces of economic development collided with the rights of individual landowners with the resulting disagreements going far beyond the loss or gain in monetary value by either party.

One such proposal is a lake on Gooseberry Creek, three miles east of Mt. Ayr in Ringgold County, Iowa. The creek is small and runs south with limited water flow on the upper end about four miles from the proposed dam. The landscape is steeply rolling for Iowa and the vegetation is mixed crop and pasture with some timber on the roughest ground and trees choking literally all streams within the region. The lake was proposed by the Gooseberry Lake Agency and other entities dating back to 1969 for the combined purposes of flood control, water supply and recreation.

Favoring development of the lake is the Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA) which supplies water to a nine county area through a series of wells and lakes. "Southern Iowa does not have many locations where good water can be obtained through wells," according to Dan McIntosh, SIRWA manager. McIntosh has managed the rural water association for three years and has been an employee for seventeen. "We have a goal of linking up all of our water supplies to provide water for the growing agricultural usage of farms raising cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry."

The Gooseberry Lake Project, according to McIntosh, would work with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to acquire between 2,260 and 2,770 acres in order to construct a lake of just over 600 acres. According to McIntosh, "The lake area currently has 431 acres of row crops and has 640 acres of land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)."

Supporters of the lake include Lee Faris, a local rancher and past president of the Iowa Cattlemen's Association. "Surface water is the only economical water source we have here in southern Iowa." He and Royce Dredge, county supervisor, see it to be the means to provide for growing needs and potential economic development.

Dick Elliott, president of the Gooseberry Lake Agency, expressed his frustration with the lengthy process required to bring the project to its current point and the many hours of meetings required to allow everyone to have their say. He also went to the legislature during the last session to attempt to persuade lawmakers to give some leeway for lakes in the region. "Farm Bureau has taken a stand against recreational use of land, and in an effort to fix Kelo, any lake that has a recreational component cannot use eminent domain to obtain property."

"Kelo" refers to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed the city of New London, Conn., to take private property against the will of the owners for economic development by private interests. Iowa Farm Bureau led a strong effort to strengthen private property rights in Iowa and was successful, even getting the legislature to come back for a special one day session to overrule the governor's veto by a huge majority.

Craig Lang, President of Iowa Farm Bureau, says that the property rights law doesn't end development but it makes it such that the value of the resulting project will have to be shared more fairly with the landowners who choose to sell their property.

Elliott says one meeting became so heated that a landowner stood up and suggested that they might find him (Elliott) at the bottom of the lake. The total number of landowners for the four mile long lake is twelve to fifteen but at least two say they would not sell their land. The only option would be to take the land using eminent domain, but the new Iowa law would only allow this for roads, public buildings and water supply. The recreational component of the lake would be eliminated. "It would be fenced at the waterline," says Elliott. "I don't think people want a lake to be put in and then denied access." It would also eliminate several million dollars in federal funding that would build docks and ramps and defray construction costs.

Kevin Kilgore is a resident of Diagonal, Iowa, and not an affected landowner, but he still actively opposes Gooseberry Lake because he feels eminent domain is wrong for this purpose and that the flood control structures built for the lake will be a long term burden on taxpayers in Ringgold County. "I'm of the opinion that as long as we're rewriting the eminent domain laws we should not only forestall the Kelo initiative but also ensure public projects meet some reasonable standard of public good. It should answer the questions: what cost, who pays and who benefits."

The ultimate prize would be to land an ethanol plant within the region and serve it with rural water. It is projected that a sixty million gallon ethanol facility would use two million gallons of water per day and that is currently out of reach of SIRWA to provide.

The Larson brothers, Tom and John, own 540 acres that would be part of the Gooseberry Lake Project. "We are not willing to sell our land to build this lake," says Tom Larson. The brothers are twins and 57 years old. They have farmed together their entire adult lives and are of one mind, sometimes finishing the sentence for each other. "Our grandfather bought this land in 1952 and it took him a lifetime of working for the railroad and struggling and saving to do so. Our father farmed it until his death four years ago and we want it to go on being farmed by future generations," says an almost tearful Tom. His brother, John, chimes in and takes the conversation back another generation. "Our great grandfather came over from Denmark and changed the spelling from Larsen to Larson so they'd think he was a Swede. The king owned all the land in his home country and he wanted to get away from it. That's what eminent domain does to us."

The Larson's farm 2,200 acres of crops and run Simmental and crossbred cattle. They feel the loss of the cropland, in an area where bottom land is scarce, would jeopardize their whole operation. "This land is five miles from our home place and we can take care of it easily. We don't want to sell it and try to buy other land. When you buy land there's always some tough feelings," says John.

Tom's wife, Debbie, works for Farm Bureau Insurance in Mt. Ayr. She favors the law passed by legislature to protect property rights. "I was for this legislation and so were 80 percent of the people of Iowa. I tip my hat for those folks for taking that step even with the threat of the veto by the governor. I thank our legislators, but mainly the people of Iowa, because they are the ones who pushed our legislators to do that." She has been married to Tom for sixteen years and moved from Des Moines, yet she feels very strongly connected to the family and the community. "I know what this family contributes to economic development. We are talking several thousand acres of ground going out of production, be that by way of cattle operations, crop operations, haying, grazing, CRP. All of those dollars will be lost. Dollars spent in our community. So, it's hard for me to imagine this lake making that kind of money and that kind of a contribution to our community."

Debbie Larson reflects the views of many in stable, small town Iowa. "I love it here. It's a great place to live. People move here because of what we already are and not because of what they are potentially planning for us to be at some point in time. We've lost our dad, these men's dad, in the process of this whole situation. He was the salt of the earth. He was what Ringgold County, what farming, what family, what church was all about."

The Larson's discussed the potential money to be made from selling the land. "That land produces corn and money for us to be profitable," says Tom. "On that land (lake area) we gross a hundred thousand dollars a year. We get to keep about 20 percent of it. The rest goes for fertilizer, seed, taxes, equipment and other costs, most staying in the community."

As they walk the CRP land that would be taken by the lake, the brothers say that it will be put back in production next year. "We will be making ethanol and biodiesel and economic development off this land," says Tom as he stands in the tall grass. This lake will last 75 to maybe 100 years before the water quality degrades or it silts in. This land will go on and on producing for generations. We want to keep it in production and passed on to be farmed in the future."

"I have been accused of threatening Dick Elliott at a lake meeting," says Tom Larson. "I was talking to him about our land being in the bottom of the lake and trying to get him to see our point. I said, 'How would you like to be in the bottom of the lake, Dick?' and that was viewed as a threat. He reaches back for a generational quote from his family, "It's never wrong to speak the truth."

The veto override of the property rights bill faces scrutiny by the Iowa Attorney General as the legislature had ended its session. If the law stands, area projects that would have used eminent domain will be reconsidered and new approaches may be taken to accomplish development. Gooseberry Lake and a few others may be built for water supply and flood control, but it appears likely that progress will stop in most communities in the state that face similar opposition.

Editor's note: Ken Root has prepared a computer "podcast" of the interviews with participants in this story. To hear the voices of those involved go to www.whoradio.com and click on "audio" then "big show podcast." If you hear an audio explosion, you are in the right place and you can scroll down to "Gooseberry Lake-Eminent Domain."

Date: 7/26/06

	Web hpj.com

Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2008.  High Plains Publishers, Inc.  All rights reserved.  Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com