Hi guys,

A friend of mine (Matt) purchased 80 acres of timber last year for deer hunting and recreation. There is a 6-8 acre pond built by the neighbors that is on Matt's land at the upper end. Probably 1/4 to 1/3 of the total water is in Matt's timber. I assume that there was an easement or something created when the neighbor built their pond, they used the local Iowa NRCS to design it. I'm not sure though. Are you guys familiar with water rights? I would assume Matt has the right to build a dock on the shore of the pond as long as it's on his property. Once he puts in a little bass-hunter boat, can he fish the whole thing or only what's flooded over his side of the property line? Does that go the same for the neighbor who built the pond too? Thanks for your help!

Hi, I'd wait for the experts to chime in with the facts, but until then,
I'll throw out my opinion: he can build a dock on the water on his property,
and he and neighbor have fishing rights to the entire lake.

You need to talk to an attorney in Iowa/Neb (lands location) for that answer. It varies from state to state depending on real property law.

SD -
It depends on the state. Your friend should talk to an attorney with solid experience in these matters FIRST. Then, once he is aware of his private property rights, water rights and shared access rights he should try to get to know his neighbor a bit PRIOR to bringing anything up about the pond. If they end up hitting it off, this probably won't be an issue, but if they don't hit it off, things could be a little nasty between the two.

Best approach, make friends... but know your rights BEFORE discussing the matter with the neighbor or taking any kind of action. Even putting the dock out prior to at least having a discussion with the neighbor will probably cause some friction, and that's always best to avoid through solid communication when possible. Shared bodies of water can cause a lot of fights between neighbors and many of those fights could have been avoided through a little better communication between the involved parties.

In Illinois your buddy would have full access to all the water as long as he entered on his property.

Same here in IA. That's why you need to be careful how far water backs up from your pond...in addition to lawsuits.

Apart from the legal issues, there is no way this type of situation works well without the neighbors getting along. It is time for someone to make a new friend.

Thanks guys! This is kind of a funny situation where the place in question is a family acreage, and Matt's talked to the Dad who seems cool with everything, but can't get the son (who seems to run the show) to call him back so they can do introductions and hopefully hit it off. Maybe the guy's just really busy, but I figured it's best to be prepared just in case the guy's a weirdo!