My understanding of the issue is that your neighbor cannot stop the flow of
water that is currently going into your property. We lived on wetlands and
could not do any development that would prevent the natural flow of the
water.
I also think that out west they were being sued by Mexico on this issue... I
don't know what happened there....
DK
"janet" wrote in message
link.net...
the neighbor would be diverting it (for a pond i am assuming he intends to
dig) and the level of our pond level would drop. it's not so much a
stream but a spring that flows from his property into ours.
"RichToyBox" wrote in message
news:q5_Ob.101991$xy6.189616@attbi_s02...
There are two different sets of water law. One East and the other West.
West the people staked a claim on a certain amount of water, first come
first served, and if you were second and the water level was low enough
that
it did not fill firsts claim, the water could not be taken, even if it
runs
through your property. East water law says you can dam it up, but you
cannot divert it. It still has to go down the same stream that it would
have gone down to start with. That law is routinely broken, in that
cities
take water from the up stream area of the river, divert it through the
water
treatment system, and it finds its way back into the stream at the
sewage
treatment facility, down stream.
Is your neighbor diverting it around your pond, such that you don't get
the
benefit of the water? If so, then I would say you have a claim. Were
you
diverting it from its normal stream? If so, then you do not have a
claim.
Is he just slowing down the flow, by using part of it, or creating his
own
pond, but it finds itself back into the pond, through percolation, or
once
his pond is full? Then you do not have a claim.
This is the way understand the water laws of the US, but my education on
these is almost 40 years old.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"janet" wrote in message
om...
hi,
i have a two acre neighborhood pond partially fed by a spring that
flows into my pond. the pond is about 6 years old. my neighbor began
diverting the spring water away from the intake pipe to the pond. i
can't call the county today but was just wondering if anyone is aware
of laws of diverting water?
thanks!
janet