Cite as: 531 U. S. 425 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
fact that a serious flood did occur in the San Joaquin in 1997 creates the distinct possibility that flood waters may have surged down the Madera Canal and harmed petitioner's property.
For present purposes, we merely hold that it was error to grant the Government's motion for judgment on the pleadings and that it is the text of § 702c, as informed by our holding in James, rather than the broad dictum in that opinion, that governs the scope of the United States' immunity from liability for damage caused "by floods or flood waters." Accordingly, in determining whether § 702c immunity attaches, courts should consider the character of the waters that cause the relevant damage rather than the relation between that damage and a flood control project.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
437
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