Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Blockage of drainage
Hello,
Could you tell me what law, if any, applies to draining water onto another's property, is it County jurisdiction?
The developer behind us put drain inlets on his property, for our benefit and at our insistence, and now the fourth owner of the home has filled in the drain area with approximately 4-6 inches of soil, placed against our fence, which is one inch in on our property. He has nailed board to our fence to use as forms for a concrete patio. Only after I confronted him about blocking off our drainage access did he place two 3'' pipe in, however, we are not sure they will suffice as we enjoyed drainage completely under our fence, in over 5 places. We have contacted the County and they are sending an inspector out but we were wondering if we have any legal right to make him move the dirt away from our fence and leave a space of at least one inch open so our fence does not rot. Any information or guidance to the appropriate place to clear this matter up would certainly be appreciated.
Thankk you, in advance, for any help you may be able to provide.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Blockage of drainage
Your range of possible remedies (in addition to direct negotiation) would include, as you seem to know, (1) administrative action through the Sonoma County building, inspection and permits departments (and possibly others) and/or (2) a private lawsuit.
The problem with (1) is that the county is overworked and understaffed, and they may not be terribly interested or may give investigation a low priority. Also, it's a bureaucracy and it may be hard to figure out exactly what rules the neighbor has broken (if any) and who will listen to your complaint. Nevertheless, that's where I'd start, and it sounds as though you already have.
The problem with (2) is that it's expensive and really pretty hostile to file a lawsuit; also, while it can be done, it's harder to design a complaint where the harm is prospective rather than already done -- fearing flooding is one thing, recovering damages for a flood that has occurred is another.
California law on drainage and runoff following development of uphill property is difficult to summarize in a bulletin board answer, but in general favors development in the first place and assumes the development will be done responsibly, but allows downhill neighbors to sue when the effects of improper or negligent tinkering with natural runoff are felt.
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