Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 298.66 (2025)

Obstruction of public drainage canals, etc., prohibited; damages; penalties.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

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298.66 Obstruction of public drainage canals, etc., prohibited; damages; penalties.—

(1) A person may not willfully, or otherwise, obstruct any public canal, drain, ditch or watercourse or damage or destroy any public drainage works constructed in or maintained by any district.

(2) Any person who willfully obstructs any public canal, drain, ditch, or watercourse or damages or destroys any public drainage works constructed in or maintained by any district shall be liable to any person injured thereby for the full amount of the injury occasioned to any land or crops or other property by reason of such misconduct and shall be liable to the district constructing the drainage work for double the cost of removing such obstruction or repairing such damage.

(3) Any person who willfully, or otherwise, obstructs any public canal, drain, ditch, or watercourse, impedes or obstructs the flow of water therein, or damages or destroys any public drainage works constructed in or maintained by any district commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

History.—s. 5, ch. 6190, 1911; s. 52, ch. 6458, 1913; RGS 5293, 5294; ss. 1-3, ch. 10110, 1925; CGL 1518, 1519, 7413-7415; s. 163, ch. 71-136; s. 28, ch. 79-5; s. 48, ch. 2010-205.

Arrestable Offenses under F.S. 298.66

M = misdemeanor · F = felony · degree: F=1st S=2nd T=3rd

§298.66DAMAGE PROP-PUBLICDAMAGE DESTROY IMPEDE DISTRICT WATER FLOWF · 3rd

§298.66(2)DAMAGE PROPRENUMBERED. SEE REC #7035F · 3rd

§298.66(3)DAMAGE PROP-PUBLICDAMAGE DESTROY IMPEDE DISTRICT WATER FLOWF · 3rd

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 1 case, 1982–1982 · leading case: Roach v. Loxahatchee Groves Water Control Dist., 417 So. 2d 814 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982).

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Roach v. Loxahatchee Groves Water Control Dist., 417 So. 2d 814 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). · cites it 2× “§ 298.66, Fla. Stat. (1981). Thus, a landowner must construct the bridge so that it will not interfere with the district’s drainage or reclamation plan by obstructing the water flow in the canals or otherwise impairing the effectiveness of the canals.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.