Purely hypothetical but was a topic of conversation the other day........ The scenario......A property or properties has/have very well established/stocked pond(s) in a drainage that runs thru several properties. An adjoining property that shares the drainage currently has no pond but builds one. The downstream properties are cut off from inflow of water at least until the new pond fills and begins to spill. This takes so long that the existing ponds begin to dry up and hundreds/thousands of $$$ in stocked fish begin dying off. Can the new pond builder be forced to compensate the other pond owners for loss of fish, etc?

I looked at building a ponds and those types of laws and I believe so.

It’s kind of weird, but from my understanding landowner A created a wetland. It now falls under wetland protection rules.
Landowner B has now impacted that wetland.

I'd say he is liable

I just listened to a podcast on this. It's called the "Hunting' Land" podcast. They had several knowledgeable experts on there. Check it out.

I think this was something a lot more likely to happen years ago than it is now. Folks used to build ponds without worrying about such issues, but I don't think you can dam a stream that has year round running water without a permit from one of the federal agencies, and they will make sure this doesn't happen. The agency that handles it will depend on the size of the pond. My knowledge on this is out of date, so hopefully someone else can give a more current answer.

Absolutely. And I don't have to explain it.

There is the concept and legal term of “lateral support”. We’re having to deal with a neigbor who excavated his property and has caused damage to our property as a result. May end up in court over this.

Dr. B