Swett v. Cutts
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
Case, by John L. Swett against Edwin Cutts. The first count of the declaration alleges that plaintiff is the owner of a tract of land west of and contiguous to a highway, and bounded on the north by defendant’s land; that “ there is, and from time immemorial has been, along the westerly margin of said highway, contiguous to the land of the said defendant and the said described tract of land of the said plaintiff, a certain ditch or water-course, in which, in seasons of rain…
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Case, by John L. Swett against Edwin Cutts. The first count of the declaration alleges that plaintiff is the owner of a tract of land west of and contiguous to a highway, and bounded on the north by defendant’s land; that “ there is, and from time immemorial has been, along the westerly margin of said highway, contiguous to the land of the said defendant and the said described tract of land of the said plaintiff, a certain ditch or water-course, in which, in seasons of rain and melting snow, the water has been wont to gather and accumulate, and which, by means of a depression in the said land…
1Opinion of the CourtBellows, C. J.
In respect to water not gathered into a stream, but circulating through the pores of the earth, beneath its surface, it is now settled that a land owner, who, in the reasonable use of his own land, obstructs or diverts the flow of such water, even to the injury of his neighbor’s land, is not liable to respond in damages.
This is not upon the principle that has been in some cases adopted, that the land owner has the absolute and unqualified property in all such water as may be found in his soil, and may therefore do what he pleases with it, as with the sand and rock that form part of that soil,…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Tyler v. WilkinsonU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Rhode Island · 1827
- Ellis v. DuncanNew York Supreme Court · 1855
3Cited by14 opinions
- Rodrigues v. StateHawaii Supreme Court · 1970
- Keys v. RomleyCalifornia Supreme Court · 1966
- Locklin v. City of LafayetteCalifornia Supreme Court · 1994
- Page Motor Co. v. BakerSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1980
- Thomas R. Crowel v. Marshall County Drainage BoardIndiana Supreme Court · 2012
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