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An Iowa Supreme Court ruling recently found Lake Panorama to not be a privately-owned lake.

A Guthrie County District Court case was appealed to the state by Jeffrey Alan Meyers who was convicted for boating while intoxicated for a July 2018 incident. Meyers challenged the denial of his motion to suppress evidence in the case, asserting that Lake Panorama was a private lake, and not under the jurisdiction of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Court documents show two Iowa DNR officers were patrolling Lake Panorama when they observed a boat displaying blue lights, a violation of Iowa Code for those that are not an authorized emergency vessel. During the boat stop Meyers appeared to be intoxicated and was arrested.

The lake was created in 1970 when the Middle Raccoon River was dammed near Panora by a group of private property owners with the state’s permission. Currently all of the land surrounding the lake is privately owned by members of the Lake Panorama Association. The LPA also owns the dam, the bed under the lake, as well as the lake’s only marina and boat ramp, which is restricted to LPA members. The LPA also has placed signage stating the lake is private. The Supreme Court however found that the Middle Raccoon River still flows into the lake, and the public can access the river at Springbrook State Park, therefore making the body of water belonging to the public, even if the bed under the navigable water is privately owned.

Lake Panorama Association General Manager John Rutledge says the LPA continues to control all access points to the lake, with the “minor exception” of the upstream Middle Raccoon River channel. He says access for boats of measurable size is impractical and smaller vessels that do enter from upstream are few and far between, “The ruling and the coverage of the ruling seem to indicate that Lake Panorama was actively trying to block boat access from upstream. That’s simply been mischaracterized in the arguments that were made as part of that case. We do not do that, we never have. What Lake Panorama does do, however, is we try to control debris and floating hazards that come down (the) Middle Raccoon (River). That is a debris barrier that we use for clean up and it has a 130-foot gap on one end where boats can come and go, so we do not actively block boat access.”

Rutledge says this court ruling will not show a new policy or trend in lake usage. The ruling does confirm that the Iowa DNR can enforce state boating laws on the lake, which is mentioned in LPA’s regulations enforcing that all vessels must comply with these laws “except where superceded by the regulations of the LPA.” The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s ruling on a 4-2 vote. To read the court’s ruling, visit here.