Morton v. Hines

Citations

• 112 Wash. 612
• 192 P. 1016
• 1920 Wash. LEXIS 792

Syllabus

<p>Waters (55, 56)—Obstructions—Surface Waters—Floods—Evidence of Deflection—Sufficiency. A bridge pier is not shown to have been the cause of overflowing the left bank of the stream in the time of an unusual freshet, where the angle of the pier was shown to have a tendency to deflect the water to the other bank, the river turned sharply to the right below the bridge, naturally tending to deflect the current to the left bank, and the freshet was the highest known in sixteen years, and inundated both banks for great distances both above and below the bridge.</p> <p>Watebs (55)—Surface Waters—Liability. Waters escaping from the banks of a river at times of flood are surface waters which an owner may lawfully protect against by embankments, even though the effect is to cast the increased flow upon other lands.</p>