Scranton Gas & Water Co. v. Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R. R.

Citations

• 240 Pa. 604
• 88 A. 24
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 723

Syllabus

<p>Waters — Rights of riparian owners — Diversions—Use for railroad purposes — Prescriptive rights — Lower riparian owner — Water company — E quity — Injunction.</p> <p>1. It is well settled that riparian owners have no ownership of running water, nor have they any right to divert or sell it for general use. They are limited in their own use of it to ordinary purposes, incident to the enjoyment of the riparian land, and in exceptional cases to extraordinary uses upon the land itself, provided such extraordinary use does not materially diminish the flow of the stream or impair the quality of the water. A railroad company, therefore, which claims rights as a riparian owner, cannot divert the water of a stream to a reservoir several miles distant, to be used for railroad purposes. The fact that the railroad had certain other rights by prescription or usage does not give it any standing to divert the water in this manner, where it did not appear that there was any long continued diversion of such character.</p> <p>2. A water company which maintains a plant lower down the stream may in such case maintain a bill in equity against the defendant railroad company to restrain such unlawful diversion of the water and it is immaterial whether the water company claims rights as a lower riparian owner or by virtue of having exercised the right of eminent domain in the condemnation of the stream.</p>