{"id":11983,"date":"2022-06-08T21:29:02","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T21:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legalblog.ie\/?p=11983"},"modified":"2024-03-09T14:17:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T14:17:59","slug":"water-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/water-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_63 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/water-rights\/#Property_in_Water\" title=\"Property in Water\">Property in Water<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/water-rights\/#Underground_Water\" title=\"Underground Water\">Underground Water<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/water-rights\/#Dealing_with_Riparian_Rights\" title=\"Dealing with Riparian Rights\">Dealing with Riparian Rights<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/water-rights\/#Flow_and_Drainage\" title=\"Flow and Drainage\">Flow and Drainage<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/water-rights\/#Taking_Water\" title=\"Taking Water\">Taking Water<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/water-rights\/#Diversion_and_Obstruction\" title=\"Diversion and Obstruction\">Diversion and Obstruction<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/water-rights\/#Balancing_Rights\" title=\"Balancing Rights\">Balancing Rights<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/water-rights\/#Liability\" title=\"Liability\">Liability<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Property_in_Water\"><\/span>Property in Water<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Water which is appropriated or taken in to possession from a known channel, is capable of being owned.\u00a0 The property right exists only during possession.<\/p>\n<p>Blocked water within a receptacle is the property of the person who possesses it for as long as he continues in possession. Where water flows through his land and not beyond it, the landowner may generally use it without recourse by a third-party.<\/p>\n<p>Property rights in water flowing in certain channels may be vested in bodies by statute. Public authorities have powers to appropriate water supplies in particular under the Water Supplies Act 1942.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Underground_Water\"><\/span>Underground Water<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A natural right to use and enjoy water in a known and defined channel is incidental to the ownership of the riparian owner.\u00a0In the case of underground streams through known and defined channels, which can be presumed to be known, the rights are the same as in the case of water at the surface level flowing through a defined channel.<\/p>\n<p>The right to water flowing through an artificial channel in the property follows the underlying property rights of the persons who created the channel.\u00a0 If its origin is unknown, it will be readily presumed that the owner should have the same rights that he would have had if the stream was natural.<\/p>\n<p>The rights of riparian owners do not apply to underground water flowing other than in known and defined channels It does not apply to water percolation through the ground. An owner of land under which there is water in an unknown or undefined channel has no right to support from such water.\u00a0 If his neighbour draws it away there is no remedy.\u00a0 There is no right by prescription, in respect of such water.<\/p>\n<p>At common law, an owner of adjoining lands may drain them even though it dries up his neighbour\u2019s well.\u00a0 The landowner has a right to appropriate and drain surface water that does not flow in a regular or defined channel for agricultural purposes.\u00a0 This is the case even though it may prevent it from coming onto a neighbour&#8217;s land.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dealing_with_Riparian_Rights\"><\/span>Dealing with Riparian Rights<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A riparian owner is the owner of the land containing or bordering a body of water.\u00a0 \u00a0A riparian owner may grant rights to take running water to another.\u00a0 This may not appreciably affect the flow of water to other persons\u2019 lands.<\/p>\n<p>A transfer of land is deemed unless the contrary is shown to include waters and watercourses which appertain to it or are appurtenant to it. A transfer of land bordering a river is presumed to include half the river bed if it is not expressly referred to.<\/p>\n<p>Riparian rights, in the nature of easements, may be acquired by long use that is incidental to the ownership of adjoining riparian land.<\/p>\n<p>Riparian rights may be enforced by damages or an injunction.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Flow_and_Drainage\"><\/span>Flow and Drainage<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Riparian rights to flowing water may attach to ownership of land.\u00a0A person&#8217;s right to use flowing water is a type of\u00a0 property right.\u00a0Water itself whether flowing in a known and defined channel or percolating is not in itself capable of being owned at common law.<\/p>\n<p>The riparian owner has a natural proprietary right to have the water in any natural channel which is known and defined, which either passes through or about his land, to flow to him in its natural state as regards quantity and quality.\u00a0 This is not dependent on prescription.\u00a0 It does not matter whether he has used it or not.<\/p>\n<p>Any interference with this right causing damage gives a right of legal action.\u00a0 The right may be defeated.\u00a0 Third parties may acquire the right to do so by easement, by long use, or by statute.<\/p>\n<p>The rights of the riparian owner to the flow of water is subject to the rights of other owners to the reasonable enjoyment thereof.\u00a0 Therefore, other owners may be entitled to the reasonable enjoyment thereof and may do what is necessary for such enjoyment, and this is not an interference with the right.<\/p>\n<p>The riparian owner also has the right that water will be left on drains from his land without obstruction.\u00a0 The riparian owner has the right to use water while it is on his property.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Taking_Water\"><\/span>Taking Water<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A riparian owner may take and use water from a stream flowing under or over his land through a defined channel. The taking of water must be for ordinary or domestic purposes connected with the premises. This may include drinking, ordinary agriculture, and supplying water to animals. If this ordinary use exhausts water available at lower owners\u2019 levels, the latter may not complain.<\/p>\n<p>The right to the reasonable enjoyment of water in a stream is a right to take water for reasonable purposes connected with the riparian property.\u00a0 Where an extraordinary quantity is taken, it must be returned in unaltered in volume and character.<\/p>\n<p>The taking of water for irrigation is usually permissible under this principle. Water use for mills and certain industrial processes is allowable in principle.\u00a0 This is, however, subject to limitation.\u00a0 The use must be connected with the property.<\/p>\n<p>The taking of water from a known and defined channel for an extraordinary purpose or one other than that of the property concerned in a manner that it is not returned or is returned with diminished quantity or character may be restrained irrespective of actual damage.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Diversion_and_Obstruction\"><\/span>Diversion and Obstruction<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The owner of a land where a spring rises, which flows through a natural channel may be restrained by the riparian owner from diverting water so that it does not reach the latter&#8217;s land.\u00a0 Water from a spring, swamp, or pond is not in a defined channel and may be appropriated or diverted.<\/p>\n<p>The bed of a stream must not be obstructed by anything which could interfere with the riparian owners&#8217; right of navigation. \u00a0The riparian owner is entitled to remove obstructions, which infringe his rights.\u00a0 Actual damage need not be proved.<\/p>\n<p>A riparian owner must not obstruct the passage of fish other than to the extent essential and necessary to enable him to exercise the right of catching fish in the passage of the river.\u00a0 He must not raise the level of water as it flows by, or cause it to flood other land.<\/p>\n<p>A natural obstruction in place by accumulation may not be removed if it would cause damage on a lower riparian owner.<\/p>\n<p>Local authorities has powers to culvert water courses.\u00a0 This may be required under general local authority powers or by way of planning permission condition.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Balancing_Rights\"><\/span>Balancing Rights<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The riparian owner must not use or interfere with the water so as to cause injury or annoyance to his neighbours above, at higher or lower levels.\u00a0 A lower-lying owner is under the obligation to receive the natural flow from the higher water.\u00a0 However he is not obliged to receive water introduced at the higher level and added to the stream.<\/p>\n<p>A riparian owner is entitled to raise banks in order to prevent flooding.\u00a0 However, he must not cause loss or damage to other persons.<\/p>\n<p>As long as he does not divert the flow of the river from its normal course, an owner or an occupier may take action to prevent flood water from reaching his land.\u00a0 He may construct an embankment even though this may place a greater burden on his neighbour&#8217;s land.\u00a0 If however floodwater has collected on his land, he may be liable for damage caused if the water escapes by reason of a wilful act that is not in the ordinary or natural course of the use of the land.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Liability\"><\/span>Liability<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Damage by water is governed by principles of negligence, nuisance, and so-called Rylands v Fletcher \u201cstrict\u201d liability.\u00a0 The escape of water \u00a0which is naturally on land, \u00a0or stored or gathered naturally does not make the owner or occupier liable.<\/p>\n<p>If however the accumulation is unnatural, strict liability will arise. Therefore, if water, artificially accumulated escapes, strict liability will follow. This principle does not apply to water systems within buildings.\u00a0 Ordinary principles of negligence apply.<\/p>\n<p>If the escape arises in circumstances constituting a nuisance or negligence, the owner or occupier will be thereby liable. It may be nuisance if water escapes from the eaves or gutters of an adjoining land onto another&#8217;s, thereby causing damage to another&#8217;s property.\u00a0 However, a right to so do may be acquired as an easement by long-use or grant.<\/p>\n<p>If a person diverts a natural stream, he is liable for damage caused where water escapes or overflows through inadequate construction. Where statutory bodies have powers to do work that which is necessarily caused by the works themselves is immune from action unless it is done negligently.<\/p>\n<p>The owner of a bed of a natural river or an artificial channel is not liable at common law for damages done by water where it overflows because of gradual or natural silting.<\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-11983\" data-postid=\"11983\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-11983 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Property in Water Water which is appropriated or taken in to possession from a known channel, is capable of being owned.\u00a0 The property right exists only during possession. Blocked water within a receptacle is the property of the person who possesses it for as long as he continues in possession. Where water flows through his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11983"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11983"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32745,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11983\/revisions\/32745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}