Discharging water on neighboring property

[TCBoomer]

Is there a state or federal statue that prohibits a property owner from discharging water from a curtain drain onto another property he doesn't own? I believe I've seen this in print before but am unable to find it right now.

Thanx

 

[CurlyDave]

Might be more a local or county rule than federal.

I know when I was looking into this 20 years ago, the local rule in CA was the downhill property had to accept runoff water, but the uphill property could not concentrate it and then discharge it (culvert, for instance).

I have a curtain drain, and I have never seen any water come out of its discharge. Then again, I don't hang around in a rainstorm watching the end of my curtain drain...

 

[wushaw]

I would figure State rule. It is here and mine is if it didn't flow onto the neighbors property before then you can't start doing it now.

 

[schmism]

most states have rules about changing landscape and altering natural water flow patterns.

for instance if you didn't used to receive run off but the neighbor cut down a hill which was the natural ridge and now you receive lots of extra runoff because of it. =

 

[RonMar]

Curtain Drain... that sounds like a building code requirement, or something that at least has some code stipulations involved. There may be followon regs that say where that water can be directed. Check with your local county planning agency(place where building permits are issued). If they do not know, they may be able to point you in a better direction.

 

[2manyrocks]

I think CurlyDave's description of the general state property law concept is right. Downhill property owners have to accept the natural flow of water, but the man made diversion or concentration of that same water can run into issues. It think is a type of trespass or it could be an injury to property if it is causing damage.

 

[TCBoomer]

What I've discovered over the last 2 days is the town zoning required a neighbor to install a curtain drain around his septic tank due to an underground spring/high water table. This was required in order for the neighbor to receive his CO and came about at the completion of building his new home. Since it was a last minute decision, I'm sure the neighbor just did the minimum and cheapest fix...placed the drain to daylight at the property line. What irks me is the BI signed off on the fix and is now requiring my daughter to foot the bill for an engineered drain system that routes any water from the neighbors outlet under her proposed driveway location and around her proposed septic/leach field location. This amounts to about $6K for the zoning officials ignorance.

My daughter bought the property a little over a year ago and was aware of the drain...we saw the outlet and asked the neighbor about it. At that time, the neighbor was willing to relocate his drain outlet so all seemed to be ok. Now that my daughter is ready to build, the town is requiring her to install this engineered drain system as a condition for the permits. And the neighbor doesn't seem to be interested in moving his outlet since the BI signed off.

I have spoken with a few locals and from what I've been told, the state does have regs that prohibit this situation and I should have this info in the next day or so. However what makes this difficult is the fact that if we go against the grain and fight the local zoning with the state backing us, how will that affect the building process for my daughter?

I even offered to continue the curtain drain myself and spare my daughter the additional expense, but the BI said no and an engineered system is the only option.

 

[EddieWalker]

It sounds like you're operating outside of reality and common sense, and have entered the twilight zone of local ordinance and inspectors. It really doesn't matter what federal code or law is, all that matters is what the local zoning board requires. If they pass your inspections and give you a Certificate of Occupancy, then that's all that matters. Of course, that also means that you have to do it their way. While fighting them is doable, I've found that doing this beforehand and asking for permission is always the hardest way to go. Doing it wrong without their permission and then asking forgiveness or seeking out a variance is actually the easier way to go in my experience. Once it's done, it's just a matter of convincing them to live with it, compared to getting them to change their mind before hand, which is always impossible.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[2manyrocks]

It depends on who you are dealing with. Some will do as Eddie has stated. Others might make you tear it out and do it their way. I knew of some guys who used normal residential copper water supply pipe for a retirement home and then the codes people made them tear it all out after the drywall was up and install a heavier wall copper pipe. They appealed it to the state board, and lost.

Better figure out what the local situation is and watch your step.

 

[dmccarty]

Since the inspector required the drain he might have stepped on other jurisdictions. We have a soil conservation board and a water board has started up. Run off is taken very seriously in my area. So the inspector may have said to put in the drain but he may have over stepped his authority. And then there might be state law about the subject.

We had a problem with an inspector. Long story short is that I was prepared to sue him personally. He was flat out WRONG. And I had two engineer reports saying he was wrong. The guy just flat out did not have any competence. Before suing him and the county we got the state involved who overruled the local inspector.

Check with the state regs and departments. As well as the local and county regs. A conversation with a lawyer would not be a bad idea either. I had confidence in our problem with the inspector because I had read the state regulations and I knew the guy was full of bovine scat.

Later,
Dan