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Show iowa 315 Permits from the natural resources council are also required for any dam on a nonnavigable watercourse if it is to be used to store or divert water for a regulated use as discussed in the preceding sections.63 The statute provides that it is unlawful to erect or main- tain a dam in or on any floodway or flood plain which will adversely affect the efficiency or capacity of the floodway, adversely affect the development, allocation, or utilization of the water resources of the State, or interfere with a State or local water resources plan, and the building of such a dam constitutes a nuisance.64 However, the courts have said that the construction of a dam or levee without obtaining a permit from the natural resources council did not entitle the council to mandatory injunctive relief without showing that the defendant's acts constituted a nuisance as defined by the act.65 3.6 Springs The statutes do not address themselves directly to spring waters as such, but it appears that if the spring waters are tributary to a natural watercourse then their use would be controlled and governed by the same rules which apply to surface watercourses, as discussed above. If the spring waters do not leave the lands on which they originate, their use would seem to be governed by the ground water laws as discussed in section 4. 3.7 Diffused Surface Waters It was noted above that the Iowa permit statute is expressly made inapplicable to the use of diffused surface water by a landowner.68 All of the numerous cases in this area, however, deal with the right of an owner to rid himself of diffused surface waters in a way which may be detrimental to a lower adjoining owner. The early case of Livingston v. McDonald67 seemed to approve of the civil law ap- proach in imposing liability for an increase in the quantity of water discharged onto lower land. In the interest of improving land for agricultural purposes, later cases have modified this to the extent that liability is predicated upon a discharge of "greatly increased or unnatural quantities to the substantial injury" of the lower owner. It is immaterial whether artificial or natural drainage is involved.68 The most recent decision is Rosendahl Levy v. Iowa State Highway Comm'nf* where the liability of the State agency was predicated in part on a statute which forbids the highway department to "turn the natural drainage of surface water to the injury of an adjoining owner. It shall be their [officers, employees, etc.] duty to use strict diligence in draining the surface water from a public road in its « Sec. 455A.18. <* Sec. 455A.33. 85 Iowa Natural Resources Council v. Mapes, 164 N.W. 2d 177 (Iowa 1969). 89 Sec. 455A.27. " 21 Iowa 160 (1866). «a See, e.g., Ooe v. Pattat, 151 Iowa 723, 130 N.W. 903 (1911) ; Stouder v. Dashner, 242 Iowa 1340, 49 N.W. 2d 859 (1951) ; Dodd v. Blezek, 245 Iowa 1112, 66 N.W. 2d 104 (1954) ; Woods v. Incorporated Town of State Center, 249 Iowa 38, 85 N.W. 2d 519 (1957). 89 171 N.W. 2d 530 (1969). |