Opinion ID: 2047301
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Common-Law Claims in Disputes Between Ground Water Users in Nebraska

Text: We have never been confronted with whether a surface water appropriator may bring a common-law claim against the user of hydrologically connected ground water. We have, however, recognized that a ground water user may bring a common-law claim against another ground water user. We generally have stated the common law in a manner consistent with the American rule blended with a rule of correlative rights. For example, we have stated: [T]he owner of land is entitled to appropriate subterranean waters found under his land, but he cannot extract and appropriate them in excess of a reasonable and beneficial use upon the land which he owns, especially if such use is injurious to others who have substantial rights to the waters, and if the natural underground supply is insufficient for all owners, each is entitled to a reasonable proportion of the whole, and while a lesser number of states have adopted this rule, it is in our opinion, supported by the better reasoning. Olson v. City of Wahoo, 124 Neb. 802, 811, 248 N.W. 304, 308 (1933). See, also, Metropolitan Utilities Dist. v. Merritt Beach Co., 179 Neb. 783, 140 N.W.2d 626 (1966); Luchsinger v. Loup River Public Power District, 140 Neb. 179, 299 N.W. 549 (1941); Osterman v. Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, 131 Neb. 356, 268 N.W. 334 (1936), overruled on other grounds, Wasserburger v. Coffee, 180 Neb. 149, 141 N.W.2d 738 (1966). We have also discussed, but never applied, the Restatement, supra. Prather v. Eisenmann, 200 Neb. 1, 261 N.W.2d 766 (1978).