Case Title: Kraus v. Strong

Citation: 170 Kan. 459, 227 P.2d 93

Docket Number: 38,115

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 1951-01-27T00:00:00Z

Document:
170 Kan. 459 (1951)
227 P.2d 93
LOUIS KRAUS, Appellee,
v.
ELLA STRONG, Appellant.
No. 38,115

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed January 27, 1951.
Harold H. Malone, of Wichita, argued the cause and was on the briefs for the appellant.
Clyde Wendelken, Jr., of Wichita, argued the cause, and Clarence R. Sowers, of Wichita, was with him on the briefs for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
PRICE, J.:
This appeal arises out of an action by a downstream owner of farm land against an upstream owner for damages on account of flooding allegedly caused by defendant's construction of a dike or levee on his own land along one bank of a natural watercourse which runs through plaintiff's and defendant's lands.
Trial was had by a jury which answered special questions and returned a verdict for plaintiff in the amount of $1,000. Defendant's *460 motion for a new trial being overruled he has appealed and alleges nine specifications of error.
The amended petition states two alleged causes of action, the first being for damages in the sum of $15,400 for damages to plaintiff's crops and land, and the second is for a mandatory injunction ordering defendant to remove the levee.
The parties will be referred to as in the court below, and defendant's first specification of error is that the court erred in overruling his demurrer to the amended petition and the opening statement of plaintiff.
From the record before us it appears that plaintiff's opening statement, after relating to the jury the residence of the parties, consisted of a reading of the amended petition. At the close thereof defendant demurred on the ground that a cause of action was not stated. This demurrer was overruled. We thus have the question whether the amended petition states a cause of action.
After stating the residence of the parties and the legal description of the tracts of real estate in question, it alleges that defendant's land was directly south and adjacent to plaintiff's property; that a natural watercourse or creek flowed in a generally northeasterly direction across both properties, and
and then follow allegations with reference to the flooding of plaintiff's property and damage alleged to be the natural result thereof.
Defendant contends the amended petition, construed most favorably to plaintiff, merely alleged that defendant, the upper landowner, constructed a levee along the bank of a natural watercourse on his own land to repel flood waters from such natural watercourse, something which, under the provisions of G.S. 1935, 24-105, he *461 was permitted to do, and therefore no cause of action is stated. Applicable portions of that statute read:
We think that defendant's contention is well-taken. From a reading of the statute it is obvious that defendant had the right to construct a levee on his own land along the bank of the creek in question to repel flood water from such natural water course. The latter portion of the statute has reference to surface water which is the overflow of a watercourse on the premises of an adjacent upper landowner where such upper landowner has not constructed or maintained a levee along the bank of such watercourse so as to prevent overflowing. It is in such latter instance that the lower landowner must obtain consent of the chief engineer of the division of water resources to build a levee on his own land to repel flood water coming down from above. However, that is not the case before us and all that is alleged here is that the levee constructed by the defendant held the natural overflow of the creek narrowly channeled between the levee and the opposite bank. There is no allegation that the levee in any way diverted overflow surface water from above onto the land of plaintiff.
Questions pertaining to the respective rights of landowners in situations similar to this have been before this court on numerous occasions. In Horn v. Seeger, 167 Kan. 532, 207 P.2d 953, the authorities were reviewed and the statute, supra, was again considered. No good purpose would be served in quoting from that opinion, but the holding in that case as applied to the question now before us means that here the defendant was entirely within his rights in confining the waters of the creek in question to its channel *462 so as to protect his own property from overflow. It therefore follows that plaintiff's amended petition and opening statement did not state a cause of action and the demurrer thereto should have been sustained.
In view of our decision it becomes unnecessary to discuss other alleged trial errors relied upon by defendant for reversal of the judgment. The judgment of the lower court is reversed with directions to sustain defendant's demurrer to the amended petition and opening statement of plaintiff.