10.20 Pollution

• Library: Real Estate Practice Deskbook (2019 Ed.)

7. (§10.20) Pollution

One right of riparian owners in a stream flowing by or through their land is the right to its flow in its natural condition with respect to purity except as affected by the reasonable use of other proprietors. Bollinger v. Henry, 375 S.W.2d 161 (Mo. 1964).

Since the passage of federal and state environmental laws in the early 1970s, pollution of water has been regulated by the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System), which is mostly administered at the state level by the Missouri Clean Water Commission and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. See §§ 644.051.1 and 644.076, RSMo 2016, of the Missouri Clean Water Law, §§ 644.006 et seq., RSMo 2016 and Supp. 2018.

Violation of the provisions of the Law are prima facie evidence of pollution. Mining, industrial activities, and the disposal of urban sewage are the bases for most
of the actions brought for pollution. As Bollinger, 375 S.W.2d 161, states, the "reasonable use" criteria applies in this area of the law as well.

Although the owner of a dominant estate has the right to use the stream flowing by his or her land, this right does not include the right to pollute the stream so as to interfere with its beneficial use by a servient estate. Haynor v. Excelsior Springs

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