hello, I live in BC. My house was built in 1983 and sits on…

hello

thanks for your response. To answer your questions:

yes the adjoining property is causing water to pool at the lowest point which is right on the ede of my property. once it gets too high on their property it starts to take over my back yard thus potentially causing a problem in my basement. I have not witnessed this as we have lived here over two spring seasons now and have not taken any chances and have pumped the water out ourselves. last year, the adjoining property was owned by 3 lawyers. they claimed they had no liability but as good neighbours would pay for 1/2 the fuel needed to run the gas pumps. now the new owner is telling me that I am on my own and to sue the original builder of the home (which was in 1983). As for the safety hazard I spoke of, the water gets so high on the joined property line (on their property but where mine meets) that if a small child were to fall in there (there is no fence or anything there to stop trespassers) then they would drown as the water can get as high as the 6 foot posts that are there for the range fence. The snow melt is so great in that field that it literally builds a decent size pool where usually it is dry there. The geese and ducks come swimming and foraging because it is such a great body of water. as I said, last year we pumped out 120,000 gallons and this year about 60,000 as we had less snow. The botXXXXX XXXXXne is, I have three gas bills for the owner equalling the sum of $61.00 and I was told "no". So what is my recourse if any? I am trying to be helpful to the owner and take some responsibility in taking care of my home but this does not seem right to me. it is not my water it is his. I do have pictures if you would like to see them. It may give you an idea of what I am talking about.

There is no danger to the neighbours property because it is farm land and it is pasture for cows and a hay field for the late summer - there are no buildings of any sort on his property. the water issue only occurs it the spring when the snow melts and apparently does not happen every year - only when we have heavy snow falls in the winter.

To answer your question about diverting the water. It would be a huge project for the owner and cost! The one option is to dig up our back yard and put in some sort of drain pipe that would go from the back of our property to the front (about 250 feet). problem with this idea is the digging would be very close to gas line, power lines and sewage line and would mean temporarily taking down our chain link fencing in order to get a backoe in there. And at who's cost? They are not willing to pay a $60 fuel bill so I can't imagine they are even willing to look at that alternative.

The owner insists that it is the responsibility of the original builder or CRD who issued the building permits to take care of the problem. that water has a natural flow and if you are going to stick a house in its pathway then it is your problem. I just need to know what the law has to say about that.

From my perspective every property starts and ends somewhere. and what happens on my property that affects my neighbours is my responsibility to take care of. there is also a bit more to this in that if I let that water get into my yard, it starts to flow into my neighbours yard as well BUT the water technically is coming from my yard at that point so does this make me liable to them if it damages anything on their property.

hope this helps clarify for you