Full question:
My property is a 100 x 200 rectangle. One adjoining property owned by another family (The Pitts) is 80 ft wide and adjoins the last 80 feet of our top property line--like two dominoes. The Pitts land slopes at a pretty good angle into the Taylor land. The Taylor land slopes at a lesser degree but has a ridge in the center to guide Pitts draining water towards the back of our property and on down the hill. The water drainage system planned for these two lots when they first graded for construction in 1980 was sheet flow. The Pitts have built two obstructions to this drainage: in 2006 they laid down a line of landscape limbers snuggly end-to-end across their entire bottom border with our property which is in the middle of an incline. This became the first diversion collecting draining water and allowing it to run along the line of timers to exit in their lower right corner near our house! then last year in June of 2010 they laid down a line of paving stone (again fitted snuggley together) in a U shape to enclose their entire lower back yard which diverts even more water down and out the lower right corner towards our house building, some is sheet flow but the left and right sides form flumes and 2/3rds of the total drainage is concertrated thru a center hole about 48' wide which they lined with stones which I call the 'canal.' Question: their storm water drainage used to drain down the back third of our lot to our lowest & farthest corner and on down the hill. This drainage water is now being diverted out of their lowest righthand corner onto our lot near our house. Can they change the destination of this water? (Note: the U design on the last five feet of the back of their property includes plantings of a few azaleas and hostas, etc sandwiched between the paver border and the landscape timber border. Their back yard is mostly packed dirt so during a hard rain it acts like an aluminum sliding board carrying dirt and debris (silt?) down to deposit into our beautiful green, grassy areas. The rush and force of the water is digging trenches thru our property and depositing silt way down the hill.)
- Category: Real Property
- Subcategory: Neighbor Relations
- Date:
- State: Virginia
Answer:
A landowner must prevent nuisances that could negatively impact a neighboring property. A nuisance is a significant interference with the use and enjoyment of land, which can be intentional, negligent, or ultra-hazardous. If a nuisance disrupts another person's peaceful use of their property, it may lead to a lawsuit for damages or an injunction to stop the activity. Abatement of a nuisance can involve removal, repair, or rehabilitation.
In your case, the Pitts may be liable for diverting water onto your property, which can be considered trespass. Trespass occurs when there is an intentional or negligent intrusion onto someone else's property, including water diversion.
If you seek injunctive relief, you would need to prove that harm will occur without it, which cannot be fixed with money damages. Courts typically require evidence that: (1) you have a strong likelihood of success on the merits; (2) you would suffer irreparable injury; (3) the injunction wouldn't cause substantial harm to others; and (4) the public interest would be served by issuing the injunction.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.