There are basically two different types of water law in the US. Eastern and
Western. In western water law, a person registers a claim, and noone
upstream is allowed to use water that would affect that persons claim. If
there is a serious drought, many people may have water go through their
property, and not be able to use a drop. That is how California gets most
of the Colorado river, though it has many more miles in Arizona. Eastern
water law basically says that you can use the water that goes across your
property, including damming it up, but you cannot divert the water to a
different waterway. Some cities in the east are violating the water law, by
creating lakes on one waterway, and piping the water to their citizens.
This creates some change in flow pattern, allowing changes in species, etc.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html

"PrecisionMachinisT" wrote in message
...

"Cdon" wrote in message
oups.com...
Where do I find a private property dam inspector in NJ?

There is land I'm interested in purchasing near Morristown New Jersey
which has a tiny 100 foot diameter 10'foot deep pond with a ten foot
tall embankment and a 1-foot diameter pipe about 5 feet long going thru
that bank to the next property.

Where do I find a POND & DAM INSPECTOR to inspect that?
The home inspector the real estate agent set up said just go to the
town but I'm afraid of the town (I'd rather get a private assessment
first).

I don't even know what to look for in my searches (hydraulic engineer?
dam inspector? pond inspector? civil engineer? waterway engineer?)

Whoever they are, I need to ask those dam people if they think the
embankment & outflow pipe is structurally sound and what it might need
to fix it.


A title search should show any water rights currently belonging to your
neighbor.....

Any experienced real estate attorney could likely advise you here,
also....if its been abandoned or fallen into dis-use, it shouldnt be a big
legal hassle to get the rights vacated.

Damn....might turn out this would be an excellent source for geothermal
heating /cooling should you consider using water-source heat pumps.....

--

SVL