Lewis Chatfield v. Walter M. Wilson

Summary

The court held that a landowner has no correlative right to underground water that percolates through a neighbor's soil, because such water is treated as part of the land itself. Accordingly, the defendant's obstruction of filtration from his land was lawful and could not become actionable merely because it was motivated by a desire to deprive the plaintiff of water. The court reversed the county court's judgment and remanded the cause.