Abstract
Diffused surface waters are those waters on the surface of the ground that are of a vagrant character and follow no definite course. They are often referred to as runoff or sheet wash. They fail to establish an identity as a discrete body of water and are lost through evaporation, by percolation into the soil, or by flowing into an established watercourse. When diffused surface waters become part of a natural watercourse they lose their character as surface waters and come under the rules governing watercourses; when they percolate into the soil they come under the rules governing percolating ground water. Flood water that spills over the banks of a watercourse and flows in a diffused manner over the flood plain is viewed in some states as diffused water and in other states as fugitive water from a watercourse.
“Surface water is recognized as a common enemy, which each proprietor may fight off or control as he will or is able, either by retention, diversion, repulsion, or altered transmission; so that no cause of action arises for such interference, even if some injury occurs, causing damage.”
Bochsenius v. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha R. Co. 96 Wis. at 450 (1897)
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References and Suggested Reading
Dolson, W. (1966), Diffused surface water and riparian rights: Legal Doctrines in conflict, Wisconsin L. Rev., 1966 (1): 58–120.
Kinyon, S., and McClure, R. (1940) Interference with surface waters, Minnesota L. Rev., 24: 891–939.
Sattinger, O. (1975), Waters, American Jurisprudence, 2d, Lawyer’s Co-operative Publishing Co., Rochester, N.Y., Vol. 78, Part V, SS 117–145, p. 561–593.
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© 1983 Plenum Press, New York
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Tank, R.W. (1983). Diffused Surface Water. In: Legal Aspects of Geology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4376-9_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4376-9_9
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