Can anyone enlighten me on water usage law?

[mcardles]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I live in a neighborhood of approx. 100 houses. We have a community pond/retention area approx. 3 acres. When the developer closed his books, he gave quitclaim deeds to adjacent residents, so now the pond has 6 owners all adjacent. The HOA also owns a small sliver of the pond at the end of the pond where the fishing dock is located. This is the shallow end.
One of the owners, unbeknownst to anyone, has installed a pumping system to withdraw water to water his lawn.

The level of the pond is dropping already. I own a lot of the shallow end of the pond. Do I have to watch silently as my portion is drained by my neighbor as he waters his lawn? Do I have any recourse to force him to remove the pumping system? The source is actually coming from my property so it seems as if I should have some claim to the water.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I live in a neighborhood of approx. 100 houses. We have a community pond/retention area approx. 3 acres. When the developer closed his books, he gave quitclaim deeds to adjacent residents, so now the pond has 6 owners all adjacent. The HOA also owns a small sliver of the pond at the end of the pond where the fishing dock is located. This is the shallow end.
One of the owners, unbeknownst to anyone, has installed a pumping system to withdraw water to water his lawn.

The level of the pond is dropping already. I own a lot of the shallow end of the pond. Do I have to watch silently as my portion is drained by my neighbor as he waters his lawn? Do I have any recourse to force him to remove the pumping system? The source is actually coming from my property so it seems as if I should have some claim to the water.

You will want to find a local real estate attorney who can help you. This is beyond the scope of this forum.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I live in a neighborhood of approx. 100 houses. We have a community pond/retention area approx. 3 acres. When the developer closed his books, he gave quitclaim deeds to adjacent residents, so now the pond has 6 owners all adjacent. The HOA also owns a small sliver of the pond at the end of the pond where the fishing dock is located. This is the shallow end.
One of the owners, unbeknownst to anyone, has installed a pumping system to withdraw water to water his lawn.

The level of the pond is dropping already. I own a lot of the shallow end of the pond. Do I have to watch silently as my portion is drained by my neighbor as he waters his lawn? Do I have any recourse to force him to remove the pumping system? The source is actually coming from my property so it seems as if I should have some claim to the water.

**A: read the deed. If written correctly the owners should all share a percentage of common interest in the pond. Therefore if one is a water hog, the other owners could make a claim.