CopyCited 4 times | Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida
...Grimes, Bartow, for appellees. LILES, Chief Judge. Walter L. Brown, appellant here and plaintiff in the trial court, filed his complaint for himself and all others similarly situated against defendant-appellees, alleging that defendants were violating Section 298.74, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., entitled *393 "Drainage of Lakes," [1] by drawing water from Crooked Lake, a lake greater than two square miles, without first obtaining written consent of the abutting owners....
...rly framed as a class action. The trial judge granted the motion to dismiss with leave to amend. However, plaintiff chose to take this interlocutory appeal rather than file an amended complaint. In dismissing the complaint, the trial court held that § 298.74 did not apply to the present situation because it only controls when such a lake is lowered by drainage by means of a canal or ditch and not by drawing the water off by pumping as here....
...In neither case is there a suggestion that this statute only applies when the lowering is solely accomplished by "drainage" as opposed to "pumping" or any other method whereby water can be drawn from a lake. We therefore believe that plaintiff's complaint states a cause of action pursuant to § 298.74, Fla....
