Community Well & Agreements

[L&G]

Washington State:

We bought a home with a community well located on the property.

During the first 3 years, it was difficult to collect anything from the other 3 home owners who share the well. We naturally assumed responsibility and paid out of pocket for maintenence, electricity. We had a very difficult time communicating this to the other home owners too.

These neighbors are all equally difficult people to talk to too, since we are in a very rural area of town and everyone is set in their ways.

There is no easement to allow the city to bring in a public water system for anyone to connect to, so we are told. So now we are kind of stuck with this arrangement and have to share our water system with three other families.

What I am concerned about, is that management of this well has been passed on from us to one of the other property owners.

Neighbors have forced themselves onto our property; tampered with the well house on occasion.... & now since we passed over management to one of them for a change....WE are being hassled for payment into the well account and asked to pay costs not agree to by all. When does the nightmare end?

We just want to know how we can get out of a shared well agreement and this situation alltogether. We no longer want to have the well on our property at all and just want these neighbors to back off. We love our home, but are just fed up with dealing with our neighbors at all.

Our finances and property should be our own to manage. We don't want to share our land any longer. We are thinking we need a lawyer for this.

Please....any advice at all will be helpful.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[FarmerJ]

The one who is managing the well now , did that person always pay its share of the expenses when you were managing it ? second question, you wrote > There is no easement to allow the city to bring in a public water system for anyone to connect to, so we are told.< who told you that ? your city /county /water works dept ? question 3 do these houses each have any kind of water meter to read how much water each is using ? Is the well connected to a sub meter to determine how much electricity it alone uses? (if not have you considered installing one ,very very in-expensive was to moniter well electricity use)