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Show 658 GROUND WATER RIGHTS district. Where the defendant well owner had not acquired a permit as required by law, his withdrawals could be prohibited. The court did not rule on the question of whether the action could be successfully maintained if the well owner had acquired a permit. North Dakota There is no distinction in rights to use ground water based on its artesian character in North Dakota. There is a code chapter, however, on artesian wells.243 This chapter requires each artesian well to be equipped with a valve capable of controlling its flow.244 The chapter regulates drilling procedures and provides for valves located below the frost level.245 It is a misdemeanor to waste artesian water.246 South Dakota The South Dakota ground water statute prohibits the waste of artesian waters.247 It further requires the reporting of uncontrolled wells248 and authorizes the Water Resources Commission to plug abandoned or wild wells.249 Texas Every artesian well must be tightly cased, capped, and fitted with a device that will effectively control its flow; a well not so equipped is a public nuisance.250 Waste of artesian water is unlawful and punishable by fine, im- prisonment, or both.251 In Corpus Christi v. Pleasanton ,252 the court held that these statutes did not prohibit the transportation of artesian waters through natural stream beds and lakes with loss by transpiration, evaporation, and seepage. The court reasoned that the English rule concerning percolating waters was settled law before these statutes were passed; that the statutes made no attempt to modify this rule, which contained no prohibition against trans- portation of water; and that the statutes operated on the use to which the water would be put, rather than the method of transportation. This case also 243N. Dak. Cent. Code Ann. § 61-20-01 et seq. (1960). 244 Id. § 61-20-01. 2ASId. § 61-20-02. 246 Id. § 61-20-04. 247S. Dak. Comp. Laws Ann. § 46-6-14 (1967). 248Id. § § 46-6-15 and 46-6-16. ™Id. § § 46-6-17 and 46-6-18. 250Tex. Rev. Stat. Ann. art. 7601 (1954). 2S1Id. art. 7607; Penal Code Ann. art. 847 (1961). 2S2Corpus Christi \.Pleasanton, 154 Tex. 289, 276 S.W. (2d) 798 (1955). |
