Trustees & Inhabitants of Delhi v. Youmans
New York Supreme Court
THIS was an action brought to restrain the defendant from digging on his own land, and thereby diverting the water from certain springs on the lands of England, from which the plaintiffs and others were in the habit of obtaining their necessary supply of water. .Upon the trial of the case at special term, before Justice Balcoh, the complaint was dismissed, and the plaintiffs appealed.
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THIS was an action brought to restrain the defendant from digging on his own land, and thereby diverting the water from certain springs on the lands of England, from which the plaintiffs and others were in the habit of obtaining their necessary supply of water. .Upon the trial of the case at special term, before Justice Balcoh, the complaint was dismissed, and the plaintiffs appealed. The facts are, that the palintiff England and the defendant are adjoining owners of real estate in the town of Delhi; that there are no springs or water courses on the defendant’s lands; that there are two…
1Opinion of the CourtBoardman, J.
The following principles of law appear to me upon a careful examination too well settled to admit of controversy.
1. The law controlling the rights to subterranean waters is *319very different from that affecting the rights to surface streams. In the former case the water belongs to the soil, is part of it, is owned and possessed as the earth is, and may be used, removed and controlled to the same extent by the owner. Frasier v. Brown, (12 Ohio, 304, 311,) where the defendant dug a hole in his land which cut off and stopped the sources and supply of a spring which had previously risen in and…
2Cases cited10 opinions
- Radcliff's Executors v. . Mayor, C. of BrooklynNew York Court of Appeals · 1850
- Chatfield v. WilsonSupreme Court of Vermont · 1855
- Pixley v. . ClarkNew York Court of Appeals · 1866
- Roath v. DriscollSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1850
- Panton v. HollandNew York Supreme Court · 1819
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3Cited by30 opinions
- Walker v. CroninMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1871
- Hoyt v. City of HudsonWisconsin Supreme Court · 1871
- Phelps v. . NowlenNew York Court of Appeals · 1878
- Southern Pac. R.R. v. DufourCalifornia Supreme Court · 1892
- People's Gas Co. v. TynerIndiana Supreme Court · 1892
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