v.
George W. LaPlant
Appellee insists that the points now made by appellants were involved in the ruling on the demurrer, and that such-ruling must be accepted as the law of the case. In filing an amendment to the petition after the demurrer was sustained, the plaintiffs necessarily waived any error in the ruling. Long v. Furnas, 130 Iowa, 504; Frick v. Kabaker, 116 Iowa, 503; Frum v. Keeney, 109 Iowa, 396; Krause v. Keeney, 100 Iowa, 666; Wyland v. Griffith, 96 Iowa, 24. This merely obviated any complaint thereof on appeal, but such ruling is not to be regarded as an adjudication in.,such sense that the same question may not be raised in some, other way. Geiser Mfg. Co. v. Krogman, 111 Iowa, 503. Had the defendant moved to strike the last amendment as
being a repetition of matter, in so far as material, contained in the petition, and this had been sustained, the case would be parallel with Long v. Furnas, supra, and the ruling on the demurrer must have been accepted as the law of the case. But the defendant filed no motion to strike, nor demurrer. He answered specifically and in detail the allegations of the original petition and amendments thereto as [*627] completely as though no demurrer had ever been filed. This was tantamount to accepting the last amendment as curing any defect in the petition aimed at, and electing to submit the issues on the merits. Eubank v. Whitaker, 11 Iowa, 197; Phillips v. Hosford, 35 Iowa, 593. In the first of the above cases the defendant, after a demurrer to an amended petition had been sustained, answered, and upon appeal the court held that the ruling on the demurrer could not be considered, as the subsequent answer and hearing on the pleadings rendered it practically unimportant. If the plaintiff, by amending his petition, thereby waives any error in the ruling by which a demurrer thereto has been sustained, it necessarily follows that a defendant, by answering over upon the petition being amended, waives the effect of the previous ruling as to those portions of the petition at least to which he pleads issuably. This must have been the thought of appellee, for the motion to dissolve the writ of injunction was based solely on the allegations of the pleadings other than the demurrer, and no reference whatever was made to the ruling thereon. Regardless of this, however, we are of the opinion that, in traversing the allegations of the petition by answer, the defendant elected to treat the amendment as remedying its defects, if any there were, on which the ruling on the demurrer was based, and to raise the issues in another way. The ruling on the demurrer under these circumstances cannot be accepted as finally determining the law of the case.
The rule has been applied in a great variety of cases. A leading authority is Lampman v. Milks, 21 N. Y. 505, where the owner of land through which a stream flowed diverted it to another course so as to relieve a portion of the tract which had overflowed. A part of the land was sold, and a dwelling erected thereon, when the grantee of the remainder dammed up the last ditch, and caused the water to flow in its original course, thereby overflowing the yard of the purchaser of the part. In holding that the grantee of the portion retained could not return the stream to its original bed to the injury of the first grantee, the court, after stating the general rule as above, observed that “ this is one of the recognized modes by which an easement or servitude is created. No easement exists so long as there is a unity of [*630] ownership, because the owner of the whole may, at any time, rearrange1 the qualities of the several parts. But the moment a severance occurs, by the sale of a part, the right of the owner to redistribute the properties of the respective-portions ceases, and easements or servitudes are .created, corresponding to the benefits and burdens mutually existing at the time of the sale. This is not a rule for the benefit of purchasers only, but is entirely reciprocal. Hence if, instead of a benefit conferred, a burden has been imposed upon the portion sold, the purchaser, provided the marks of this burden are open and visible, takes the property with the servitude upon it. The parties are presumed to contract in reference to the condition of the property at the time of the sale, and neither has a right, by altering arrangements then openly existing to change materially the relative value of the respective parts.” See Fremont, E. & M. V. R. Co. v. Gayton, 67 Neb. 263 (93 N. W. 163). In Spencer v. Kilmer, 151 N. Y. 390 (45 N. E. 865), the owner had leased a tract of land on which the lessee, in pursuance to the requirements of the lease, constructed a fish pond, supplied with water from underground drains and sluices, gathered in reservoirs on the land retained by the owner, and conveyed by pipes to the pond. Subsequently the lessee purchased the leased premises, and the owner later destroyed the appliances for the supply of water. The court held that “ the thing which the defendant granted was the lot with the fish ponds then in use, constituting a very important element in the value of the property. The principal appliances for maintaining it by supplying the water were open and visible, and the defendant knew that there was no reasonable way to maintain it without them. His grant to Morrissey, we think, carried with it the right to collect the water from the springs on the land of the defendant to the east that was still unsold, and conduct the same by means 9¿¥ conduits and pipes to the pond, and to maintain the ap-^piKHi'ees in use for that purpose at the time of the grant.” [*631] See, also, Paine v. Chandler, 134 N. Y. 385 (32 N. E. 18, 19 L. R, A. 99), where the owner of two farms, one of which had long been supplied with water from the springs on the other, conveyed the one containing the springs. The court- held the grantee entitled to the use of the water. See, also, Tooth v. Bryce, 50 N. J. Eq. 589 (25 Atl. 182) ; Whalen v. Manchester Land Co., 47 Atl. 443 (65 N. J. Law, 206) ; 3 Farnham on Water & Water Rights, section 827; Johnson v. Knapp, 146 Mass. 70 (15 N. E. 134); Carrigg v. Bank, 136 Iowa, 261.
These decisions illustrate the circumstances under which the rule will be applied, and under which the right to the continuance of prevailing conditions will pass with the deed to a portion of an owner’s estate. The test to be applied is whether the owner before conveying had created a condition in or added advantages to the portion of his property conveyed reasonably essential to its continual enjoyment or beneficial use and in some way dependent on the part retained. The principle is somewhat too broadly stated in Farnham on Waters and Water Eights, section 831: “ If the owner of land has artificially created upon the property a condition which is favorable to one portion of his property, and then sells that portion, the grantee will take it with the right to have the favorable condition continued.” See, also, Forrest Mill Co. v. Cedar F. M. Co., 103 Iowa, 619, 634. The dam in controversy had continued twenty years at least before the icehouses were erected. For all that appears the land sold had not been improved in the meantime. The icehouses and equipments were constructed under the lease dated August 21, 1894, for a term of ten years permitting their erection in connection with -the business and the exclusive use of the ice forming on the stream, bayous, and ponds thereon. All the improvements were made by the tenants under a contract requiring them to surrender the premises at 'the end of the term and permitting the removal of all buildings. The [*632] making of these improvements was optional. They were not permanent but temporary, and did not become a part of the estate until the tenants acquired title. No change whatever was made in the land by the owner, nor any artificial advantages added which would bring the case within the above rule with respect to implied easements. See Gormley v. Sanford, 52 Ill. 158; 3 Farnham on Waters & Water Rights, section 830.
But the water level had been maintained by the owners of this dam for more than forty years, and, as was well known to the grantors, the value of the land conveyed to plaintiff depended on the continuance of conditions then prevailing, and it was purchased in reliance thereon. Por them after selling it to have altered these conditions by the removal of the dam or to sell to another-for that purpose, under the circumstances, would be an act of bad faith not to be tolerated. Men ought not to be allowed thus to trifle with the confidence of those with whom they deal. True there was no express representation or assurances that the dam would not be destroyed. But from the execution of the deed of this tract, which had long been occupied by the tenants, in connection with the pond produced by the dam, for the purpose of their business and the value of which, owing to the facilities for conducting the ice business, depended upon its continuance, all of which was open and apparent, together with the fact that the dam had been maintained for a period beyond that of the statute of limitations, it is plainly to be inferred that the conveyance was made with reference to existing conditions. In a sense the dam’is to be regarded as temporary, for artificial means will be essential for- its effectual maintenance. Kray v. Muggle, 77 Minn. 232 (79 N. W. 964, 1026, 1064, 45 L. R. A. 218) ; Burrows v. Lang, (1901) 2 Ch. 502. But from its long continuance and use at the time in furnishing water power for the mills the intention that it should be perpetual was the only natural inference, and, for this reason, as be [*633] tween the grantor, maintaining such a dam, and one purchasing from him with reference to the artificial condition of the water created thereby and bordering thereon, such purchaser may proceed on the theory that such condition has been substituted for the natural condition previously existing, and that he is entitled to have such new condition continued. Gould on Waters, section 225; Famham on Waters & Water Nights, sections 827, 828. In the latter work it is said: “ The most simple way in which they (rights to the existing condition of a water course) may be acquired is by the sale of land or property rights with respect to the artificial condition. The same rule applies in the case as applies in case of a sale of lots with reference to a platted street. After the consideration has been received for the property or rights as they exist in relation to a certain artificial condition of a water course, the grantor will not be permitted to destroy that condition.” This principle has been applied in a variety of cases. See Stratton v. Elliott, 83 Ind. 425; Cooledge v. Hager, 43 Vt. 9 (5 Am. Rep. 256) ; New Ipswich W. L. Factory v. Bachelder, 3 N. H. 190 (14 Am. Dec. 346) ; Murchie v. Gates, 78 Me. 300 (4 Atl. 698); Huntington v. Asher, 96 N. Y. 604 (48 Am. Rep. 652) ; Blantyre v. Dunn, 70 L. J. Ch. (N. S.) 607; Dunlap, B. M. 509. See, also, Stevens v. Kelley, 78 Me. 445 (6 Atl. 868, 57 Am. Rep. 813) ; Shepardson v. Perkins, 58 N. H. 354. Shelby v. Chicago & E. I. R. Co., 143 Ill. 385 (32 N. E. 438), is in point. Dams had been constructed connecting an island in the Kankakee river to either bank about forty years prior to the action for the purpose of furnishing power to a mill, subsequently abandoned. The natural scenery of the island, together with the opportunities for boating, rendered it an attractive resort and suitable as a place to which to operate excursion trains. ^ After negotiations with the owner, in which the. company’s designs •were disclosed, a part of the island was purchased by the company, and valuable improvements constructed thereon. [*634] Afterwards the grantor died, and his heirs in improving their lands along the river proposed to remove one of the dams. After sustaining a restraining order on the ground of estoppel, the corn’t added: “ What we have said thus far is upon the theory that the right to have the dams maintained did not pass to the railway company by the deed, but we are inclined to the opinion that said right constituted an easement appurtenant to the land, and as such passed by the conveyance. It is true the words ‘ with the appurtenances/ or equivalent words, were not employed in the deed, but those words, if used, would not have .enlarged the scope of the deed, for what is actually appurtenant to the granted passes without such words; it being the general rule that whatever is in use for the land as an incident or appurtenance passes by conveyance of the land.” Without such easement the enjoyment of the portion conveyed for the purpose contemplated could not be had, and to this end it passed as appurtenant to the estate granted under the rule stated.
. Appellee rightly contends that in a case like this, as the grantee has not been in possession the statutory period, the doctrine of reciprocal rights as between the owner of the dam, the right to maintain which has been acquired by prescription, and those of the riparian owners to its continuance, has no direct application. See Kray v. Muggle, 84 Minn. 90 (86 N. W. 882, 54 L. R. A. 473, 87 Am. St. Rep. 332) ; Smith v. Youmans, 96 Wis. 103 (70 N. W. 1115); Pewaukee v. Savoy, 103 Wis. 271 (79 N. W. 436, 50 L. R. A. 836, 74 Am. St. Rep. 859) ; Murchie v. Gates, 78 Me. 300 (4 Atl. 698); Middleton v. Gregorie, 2 Rich. Law, 638. This doctrine and the decisions supporting it have been severely criticised on the ground that it treats permissive user or acquiescence as equivalent to adverse possession. See Farnham on Waters and Water Rights, sections 819b, 827, 839. Modern tendencies favor the equitable adjustment of conflicting claims to water [*635] rights, however, and if, as against riparian owners, the mill-owner has acquired the prescriptive right to maintain a dam and thereby raise the water level, it would seem in all fairness that, after such riparian owners have improved their abutting property with reference to and in reliance upon a continuance of such level, the millowner ought not to be permitted to change this to their injury. As against the owner of the dam they, by making such improvements, assert the right to the water level as it exists, and, though indirectly, to the continuance of the dam, and should be accorded the same rights with reference to the existing conditions as though they had been established by nature. Without determining the question, however, but alluding to the principle as tending to confirm the purchaser’s right to rely on the continuance of present conditions, we have no hesitancy in declaring that, where the owner of a dam with the right to maintain it perpetually sells land bordering on the stream obstructed thereby for a purpose dependent on the continuance of the water level so created, and receives the enhanced value due to its adaptability to such use,'the conveyance carries with it as appurtenant to the estate conveyed an easement- in having prevailing conditions continued.
Moreover, the right of appellants to maintain and repair is not now necessary to be determined, for all that was sought by the temporary writ was to prevent the destruction of the dam. But the grant of an easement usually carries with it whatever is essential to its enjoyment, and if this be so in this case the conveyance conferred on the owner of the dormant estate the right to repair and rebuild the dam. Huntington v. Asher, 96 N. Y. 604 (48 Am. Rep. 652). In that case the deed to a half acre bordering on a mill pond contained a grant of “ the exclusive right to take ice from the pond of the party of the first part, with the right and privilege of access for that purpose to and from the pond to the icehouse to be erected on the lot hereby conveyed.” The court in holding that the privilege granted was not a strict easement but rather a profit a prendre, and that though the owners of the pond were not bound to maintain the dam they were not authorized to destroy it or prevent its repair, and that the grant of this privilege was in the nature of an easement appurtenant ánd carried with it the right to repair and rebuild the dam, said: “ It does not concern or inhere in the land precisely like a right of way which is essential or convenient irrespective of the use to which the land’is put, but does so relatively to that use, as in the case of land used for a mill or for the manufacture [*637] of iron. In those cases, as in this, the use for which the land was bought, and' which characterized the contract of purchase, became the essential element by which the privilege granted was to be measured and judged. The right to take ice from the pond was the one essential thing leading to the purchase of the half acre, justifying the building put upon it, and making possible the performance of the covenants for supply.” See Bradley v. Warner, 21 R. I. 36 (41 Atl. 564).
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