Mark Underhill successfully obtained summary dismissal of a claim for an easement over and/or expropriation of his client’s land.

The plaintiff held a water licence for the purpose of accessing water from a nearby creek by way of a ditch across his neighbour’s property. However, the BC Supreme Court concluded that the plaintiff did not have an implied easement to operate any irrigation ditches both because the ditches were not the subject of continuous use and because any implied easement would have been granted by a different person than the current property owners.

The plaintiff’s request to expropriate a ditch that was not envisioned on his water licence was also denied because it would unreasonably interfere with the defendant’s use and enjoyment of his property, and was not necessary to the exercise of the plaintiff’s water rights.

We have a broad civil litigation practice with experience resolving disputes arising under complex legislative regimes like this one which arose under the Land Title Act and Water Sustainability Act.

To read the full judgment, click here.