Appellants sought an injunction to stop the operation of the drain. However, the chancellor refused to issue the injunction because appellants did not prove they were damaged by the operation of the drain. The facts, in greater detail, are as follows. The pipe is manually controlled and is activated by appellee six to eight times per year. Appellants' land and appellee's land are both prone to having standing water, due to the nearby presence of the Cache River, which floods quite often.
Water naturally drains across appellants' property toward the river to the northwest.
However, according to Leon Hedger, appellee's drain has changed the rate of flow of the water. In other words, while water has always drained across appellants' land, now, when appellee opens his drain, more water drains at one time. Hedger admitted he doesn't intend to farm the property, but he worries that the excess water will kill the trees on his land. Appellee testified that the water has always drained across appellants' land and that the land is always flooded anyway. A landowner has the right to fend off surface waters so long as he does not unnecessarily damage his neighbors.