What are the responsibilities owed by adjacent landowners to each other for the passage of water from one property to the other?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from Alfarano v. Regina, 2010 ONSC 1538 (CanLII):
As to the responsibilities owed by adjacent landowners to each other for the passage of water from one property to the other, Rylands v. Fletcher sketched out two key principles: (i) Where water naturally accumulates on one property and, by “operation of the laws of nature” passes to the adjoining property, either on the surface or underground, the owner of the receiving land has no legal complaint. If he wants to guard himself against the natural flow of water onto his land, he must interpose some barrier between his land and the adjoining land to prevent the operation of the laws of nature; and, (ii) On the other hand, if an owner of land brings onto his land and collects and keeps there water which is likely to do mischief if it escapes (such as the creation of a reservoir of water), then if the water escapes onto the adjoining land causing injury, liability will arise regardless of whether the landowner had acted with due care and caution.
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