30 Conn. 180 | Conn. | 1861
The facts detailed in this motion do not show
The right of the defendant to use the stream for purposes of irrigation can not be questioned. But it was a limited right, and one which could only be exercised with a reasonable regard to the right of the plaintiff to the use of the water. It was not enough that the defendant applied the water to a useful and proper purpose, and in a prudent and husbandlike manner. She was also bound to apply it in such a reasonable manner and quantity as not to deprive the plaintiff of a sufficient supply for his cattle. This principle was fully discussed and recognized by this court in Wadsworth v. Tillotson, 15 Conn., 377, and the earlier cases there cited, and a new or extended examination of the authorities is unnecessary. The claim of the defendant was that she had a right to divert the whole for the purpose of irrigation, regardless of the rights and necessities of the plaintiff, and she did so divert it. Such diversion tinder the circumstances was clearly unreasonable and therefore illegal, and the court correctly rendered judgment for the plaintiff.
A new trial should be denied.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.