LANSING, MI -- The City of Flint has filed a notice of intent to sue the state of Michigan over the Department of Environmental Quality's handling of a water supply switch that exposed citizens to lead.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver filed the notice of intent to sue in a March 24 filing with the Court of Claims, which has jurisdiction over claims made against the state and its agencies. The letter names the State of Michigan, the DEQ, and four DEQ employees as defendants. No further action beyond the letter of intent has been filed with the court as of April 1, court officials said.

The city of Flint is in the throes of a water crisis that emerged when the city, under the guidance of a state-appointed emergency manager, switched water supply sources from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River. The move -- meant as a temporary stop-gap -- saved the city money. But the more corrosive water was not properly treated and leached lead from pipes into the water supply, exposing an unknown number of children.

Gov. Rick Snyder declared a state of emergency in January, and the state is still grappling with addressing the lead exposure as a public health crisis.

In a letter Weaver submitted with her intent to sue, the mayor says the city relied on DEQ employees including Mike Prysby, Steve Busch, Adam Rosenthal and Pat Cook to verify that city water after the switch would be in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

"In October 2015, the City proceeded to switch back to a Lake Huron water supply, again provided by the City of Detroit, but the damage to the water system infrastructure caused by the MDEQ employees' grossly negligent oversight is irreversible," Weaver wrote in her notice of intent to sue.

She claimed that the city had suffered damages including damage to its municipal water system, emergency response costs, ongoing medical claims, lowered property values resulting in lower collections, reduced collection rates for provision of services, permanent loss of customers and increased civil liability.

Snyder spokesperson Ari Adler said the notice of intent came as a surprise to the governor's office.

"Our office received this notice rather unexpectedly. The Mayor's Office did not tell the Governor's Office this was going to be happening, even though key members of the Snyder Administration talk daily with key members of the Weaver Administration," Adler said.

"Once the city sues the state, communicating officially will be much more difficult as every conversation will need to involve questions about whether or not lawyers need to be present. And, of course, an open dialogue is more difficult with anyone who has decided to take you to court rather than work together as partners to solve a problem."

Weaver's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

Early on as the crisis unfolded, Weaver and Snyder met in Lansing, gave a joint press conference, and worked together on some issues surrounding the crisis. However, relations between the mayor and governor cooled significantly when the governor commissioned a study to look at lead pipes and the mayor wanted to move ahead immediately with replacing known lead pipes.

On March 24, the same day the letter of intent was filed, Snyder appointed Weaver to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Committee.

House Speaker Kevin Cotter on Friday called the lawsuit reckless.

"We have delivered millions of dollars in state aid to help get clean water, filters and other critical supplies on the ground in Flint. Additionally, we've been talking about a larger, long-term plan for the city as part of the annual budget process," Cotter said.

"But a reckless lawsuit could throw the state budget into disarray and undermine everything we've done for the city. This is a bad move that doesn't help the city one bit," Cotter said.

Emily Lawler is a Capitol reporter on MLive's statewide Impact Team. You can reach her at elawler@mlive.com, subscribe to her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter: @emilyjanelawler.