Neighbors Water Problem

[Just Mike]

What is the name of your state? Colorado

On behalf of my good neighbor I am asking opinions. We live in the Rockies in an old mining town area with lots of history etc. Very small town. Nothing city about this place at all. Everyone is either above of below their neighbors, there is very little flat ground here.

A creek runs through this sloping valley and certain people have water rights from the creek to irrigate their lawns etc. I am personally not affected by the problem I am about to reveal. The neighbor directly above me has a lake in his backyard and his septic system is literally underwater. He is using a pump to keep the water out of his home. Very slow moving water but it is there. A neighbor above him about 1/2 mile has water rights and has a ditch running from the creek through his property and the water continues on downhill from there. As it reaches the road directly above my affected neighbor the water is supposed to run alongside the road in a ditch and then dump back into the creek. The water is actually seeping under the county road and surfacing on my neighbors backyard and causing the problem. The neighbor with the water rights refused to shut down the flow or to fix the problem. He just doesn't care. He is known for this type of behavior. He is an uneducated 73 year old man who has lived here many many years and has the attitude that he can do what he dam well pleases regardless of his actions affecting anyone else.

The woman who runs the state water rights deal in this county came out and told my affected neighbor the water was from the rains we have been getting. This is definitely not the case, she is full of crap. I have seen this problem going on for years now and when the ditch is shut down at the creek the water dries up within about 3 days. When the ditch runs the water problem reappears. Doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure this out.

Legally speaking I would assume that the neighbor causing this problem should be responsible for damage to my affected neighbor. Just because the offending neighbor has water rights does not mean he can use them to destroy another neighbors septic system and cause possible damage to the affected neighbors foundation, house etc.

These two neighbors cannot talk to each other at all. That is not the solution. They each have restraining orders in place against each other due to some problems in the past that the offending neighbor caused by making goo goo eyes at the affected neighbors wife. That is another subject in itself.

So, what should the "good" neighbor do about this problem "legally speaking". IF it were affecting me personally I would simply go up and shut down the water entering the ditch and deal with what that would cause from there but my neighbor is afraid to do that for fear of the consequences.