Water/Air/Light Flashcards
Public Trust Doctrine
Provides that the sovereign holds all navigable waterways and the land beneath them as a trust for the people’s benefit
(navigable waters & environmental protection)
Absolute Ownership Rule
Landowners are NOT liable for negligent extraction of groundwater.
Limitations: Cannot engage in waste or act maliciously.
Secret & Occult
Goes with Absolute ownership rule - an old idea that ground water is so below the surface, it would be difficult to regulate it.
Reasonable Use Doctrine
Capture water only to the extent that the use of water is reasonable.
Doctrine of Ancient Lights
English Common Law - Emerged when people didn’t have electricity and used the sun for light - right to not block light from one’s home.
Fontainbleau Hotel
H: The court held that Fontainbleau was allowed to continue with their addition - NO injunction
F: Eden Rock Hotel filed nuisance suit against Fontainbleau seeking injunction for 14 story addition that would block sunlight for their guests.
R: Adjoining landowners have equal right under the law to build a structure on their respective tract if it serves a useful purpose, even if it does interfere with a neighbor’s view or air and light.
Prah v. Maretti
H: Court remanded for a determination on the reasonableness of the Plaintiff’s nuisance claim.
F: Prah had a solar panel home (was there first) and Maretti moved to the plot adjacent. Maretti had building plans that would block light to solar panels on Prah’s house. Prah filled nuisance suit.
R: The court reasoned that the recognition of a nuisance claim is NOT unjust & does not unduly harm Maretti, however, the claim still must be viewed under a reasonableness standard in a way that promotes the reasonable use and enjoyment of land.
Friendswood Development v. Smith Southwest
H: The court held that the plaintiffs failed to establish a substantial likelihood of success on the merits → absolute ownership rules of water rights
F: Smith Southwest pumped percolating groundwater from its land but ultimately caused subsidence to nearby homes. (homes sank) Neighborhood class action for nuisance and negligence.
R: If a landowner’s manner of withdrawing water from beneath their land is 1. negligent, 2. willfully wasteful, or for the 3. purpose of injury, they will be liable for the resulting harm.
Future cases would find defendants negligent.
Matthews v. Bayhead
H: An entity offering a public good may not restrict its membership if it controls access to public waters.
F: Bayhead Association only allowed residents and certain members to gain access to beach.
R: Association performed functions like a municipality (Quasi-Manicipal)
Sipriano v. Great Spring Waters of America
H: Rule of absolute ownership was not to be replaced with reasonable use doctrine.
F: Water company pumped hella water depleting people’s wells.
R: Groundwater regulation is the legislature’s responsibility
National Audubon Society
H: Public trust doctrine requires the state to protect waterways for public use against private uses that harm the trust waterways.
F: Mono Lake water level went down (surface water)
R:Mono Lake is a navigable waterway thus the public trust doctrine applies to the lake and it’s non navigable parts
Riparian Rights
Legal water right belongs to the landowner if the water flows within the land border of the landowner AND the landowner uses the water for reasonable and beneficial use. The right runs w the land.
Limitations to Riparian Rights
- Cannot deplete quantity of water even if no one is harmed.
- Not permitted to use water on nonriparian land.
Right to Lateral Support
A landowner is strictly liable if they change their land use that withdraws support from their neighbor and causes neighbors land to slip or fall in. *Support that land receives from the adjacent land.
Right to Subjacent Support
Support that land receives from underneath.
