Three northwest Iowa counties sued by Des Moines Water Works over nitrate pollution have filed a brief with the Iowa Supreme Court in which they contend that they can't be forced to pay the damages the utility has requested.

 

 Sac, Buena Vista and Calhoun counties, which operate drainage districts that Water Works claims have sent large amounts of nitrate into drinking water supplies, have "noted this Court's repeated holdings that a 'drainage district could not be subject to a money judgment in tort under any state of facts,' " the drainage district lawyers, led by a team from Belin McCormick P.C., wrote in a brief filed Wednesday.

 

 Water Works sued the counties in federal court in Sioux City, claiming both that the drainage districts should be regulated under the U.S. Clean Water Act and that they should pay damages based on the money Water Works customers have had to pay to remove nitrate from Raccoon River water so it could be sent to taps. The counties asked the court to throw out the case. U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett, after noting some previous cases that suggested the counties may have some immunity, asked the Iowa Supreme Court to certify answers to four key questions about state law.

 

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