WATERS AND WATERCOURSES - EXTENT OF RIPARIAN LAND - COMPENSATION ON CONDEMNATION

Plaintiff owned a ranch comprising over 45,000 acres and fronting for six miles on the North Platte river. One and a half miles of the river frontage were taken by eminent domain proceedings for a dam and reservoir. Plaintiff claimed the value of his whole ranch was reduced by the loss of water rights, by the destruction of sheltering trees and brush, by the creation of a potential hazard to cattle, and by the threat of floods from breaking dam or dikes. He recovered damages on that basis.

Reversing the judgment, the court held, riparian rights attached only to those sections (by the government plat) bordering on the river. There should be no recovery for damages to any other part of the ranch. McGinley v. Platte Valley Power & Irrigation District, (Neb. 1937) 271 N. W. 864.