Section 16 Surface and Mineral Rights

• Library: Condemnation Practice 2009

When land condemned for right-of-way is acquired through an easement, all of the rights above the ground, including earth and minerals found above the grade of the road, pass to the condemnor. But the rights to things below the ground, minerals for instance, stay with the fee simple owner of the property. Evans v. Haefner,29 Mo. 141 (1859). Water is not severable from the land through or under which it flows. Therefore, only the right to its use can be conveyed by a landowner—not the water itself. City of...