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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    4

    Question Stormwater/Sump Pump Drainage on to Property

    My question involves an easement in the state of: Ohio

    I own property where the backyard is downhill of a neighbor's backyard. At the top of the hill, the neighbor has a drainage pipe (assuming for sump pump or stormwater runoff) which runs along the top of the hill. We noticed that on that pipe, there is a tee connection which is not capped. During heavy rains, water comes out of that uncapped tee like a hose, causing a heavy stream of water to run down the hill, forcing dirt/mud onto our sidewalk, flooding our backyard, and in some extreme cases, flooding to the point where the water will back up to the house and seep into the basement level garage.

    The length of the pipe is perforated such that the water should be running down the entire side of the hill, but because the tee is not capped, it instead shoots out like a firehose in one concentrated spot.

    My question is, does the neighbor have legal responsiblity to cap the tee so the water is dispersed over the length of the perferated pipe?

    While Ohio water laws seem to indicate he does, when I called our county water conservation office they said they had no jurisdiction to enforce, and when I called our city (directed to Zoning & Public Works), they said they didn't either.

    I'm hoping that the neighbor will be amicable to capping the tee, but if he isn't, then I'll either need to hire a contractor to put a french drain in my backyard out to the street ($$$), or pursue a legal option (if one's available).

    The only reference to water diversion is in ORC 3767.13(c), which states "No person shall unlawfully obstruct or impede the passage of a navigable river, harbor, or collection of water, or corrupt or render unwholesome or impure, a watercourse, stream, or water, or unlawfully divert such watercourse from its natural course or state to the injury or prejudice of others." Not sure if that wording would cover this situation.

    Thanks for any input!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    98,846

    Default Re: Stormwater/Sump Pump Drainage on to Property

    Does the uncapped T appear to be an issue of design, or something that arose through a lack of maintenance?

    How long has the pipe been there? How long has the T been uncapped? When did you first discover the issue?

    (Timing can be important to the resolution of this type of issue.)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: Stormwater/Sump Pump Drainage on to Property

    The uncappted T appears to be something that arose from design. It looks as though it was just left off, or maybe removed for some reason.

    I believe the pipe has been there for some time (5+ years), but I can't say for sure. The property I own is actually a rental, it was my tenants that noticed it when they went outside one day during a heavy rainstorm and saw it up top of the hill. They first told me about it 2 weeks ago. I had our Public Works people take a look, and they talked to the neighbor (who seemed amicable to fixing it), but so far no action has been taken to cap the tee (it may be he just forgot or hasn't gotten around to it). The pipe itself is maybe 50 ft away from where my property begins.

    My plan was just to stop by for a friendly chat to see when he was going to get around to putting on a cap. If for some reason he's changed his mind, however, then I wasn't sure if there was any legal action I could take. I may even offer to buy/put the cap on for him (assuming that it's a simple screw in/on cap).

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