Strine v. York County
Strine v. York County
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Viewers were appointed by the court below from the board of viewers constituted under the Act of June 23, 1911, P. L. 1123, to assess damages occasioned to a lower riparian owner of land, by reason of the diversion of water from a stream by a corporation having the right of eminent domain. The appellant contends that the viewers should have been appointed under the Act of April 29, 1874, P. L. 73, sec. 41, and assigns as a reason therefor, that the language of the act of 1911, provides that these- viewers are to be appointed “to assess damages for the taking of land,” and that the act did not include damages arising from the taking and diversion of water.
As a lower riparian owner, the damages which would result by reason of the diversion of water from a stream would be damages to the land or property. The measure of these damages to the land would be the difference in value before the diversion and immediately afterwards as affected thereby. Land was given its technical meaning so as to include a dwelling house: Brocket v. Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 14 Pa. 241. Ground was given the same construction as land: Ferree v. Sixth Ward School District, 76 Pa. 376. Land includes a right of way: Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Co. v. Williams, 54 Pa. 103. The ownership of land gives the right to use the water which runs over the land, but does not create therein a permanent right of property. The property consists in the use, which is appurtenant to the land, and the damage to the land, if any, arises from the deprivation of its use, Land, as used in the act of 1911, is broad enough to include the damages
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.