63 Wis. 228 | Wis. | 1885
Everett street runs north and south. The first street west of it, and parallel with it, is Harney street. Crossing these streets at right angles, or nearly so, are First, Second, Third, and Fourth streets, numbered consecutively from the north towards the south. The plaintiffs, respectively, own lots and reside upon the south side of Second street and between Everett and Harney, — ■ McDonald's lot being the corner lot next to Harney. It appears from the evidence that, from points at a considerable distance south and southeast of the premises in question, the surface of the ground very gradually descends towards the premises of the plaintiffs, and thence northerly to the lake. From a point on the north side of Second street about 200 feet east of Everett street, there is a ravine or depression in the surface of the ground, leading northward to the lake, where
The law as to surface water is too well settled in this state to admit of further juridical discussion. The resident owner of a lot fronting upon a public street in a city, cannot be permitted to restrain such municipality from constructing drains along the side or culverts across such street, or other streets in the vicinity, or from grading or otherwise improving the same, merely because such acts when completed, would greatly increase the flow of surface water upon his land. Waters v. Bay View, 61 Wis. 642; Allen v. Chippewa Falls, 52 Wis. 430; Hoyt v. Hudson, 27 Wis. 656; Turner v. Dartmouth, 13 Allen, 291; Barry v. Lowell, 8 Allen, 127; Dickinson v. Worcester, 7 Allen, 19; Flagg v. Worcester, 13 Gray, 601; Parks v. Newburyport, 10 Gray, 28. The same is true with respect to an adjoining landowner changing the surface of his land, or placing obstruc
The only case in this court which tends in the least to support the contention of the plaintiffs is Pettigrew v. Evansville, 25 Wis. 223; and that case, under the findings of the trial court, is certainly exceptional. In that case the trial judge found that all the material allegations of the complaint were true, and the complaint alleged that there was a large pond or body of standing water in the village; that the defendant had commenced the excavation of a large ditch from such waters towards the plaintiff’s premises and near thereto, “for the purpose of draining said standing water in and upon said premises; that it was not necessary to so drain said water, either to improve the streets of the village, or for any other purpose connected with the duties of said corporation.” Yiewed in the light of such findings, the case cannot be regarded as an authority in support of this judgment. Here there was no pond of - water, nor anything to indicate that there was no necessity for doing what the defendant threatened to do. The only complaint is against the diversion of surface water, and the consequences thereof. It is surface water, which,
There is no complaint of any malicious act on the part of any of the officers of the city, by which the plaintiffs were injured. The officers of a municipality improving its streets, solely for the public benefit, in an honest, skilful, and careful manner, may, at least to a certain extent, exercise their own judgment and discretion as to the location and construction of drains and culverts, the grading and improving of streets, and the direction in which surface
By the Court.— The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the cause is remanded, with directions to dismiss the complaint.