Flooding

Originally published in BLG's Environment and Health & Safety Digest, Autumn 2007

Liability in flooding cases often hinges on the nature of the water channel in question. Usually the nature is easily established. However, this is not always the case.

In Raglan Housing Association Limited v Southampton City Council and Southern Water Services Limited (30 July 2007), Raglan's property was prone to flooding from an adjacent channel that flowed into the River Itchen. 

The channel had once been a natural stream.  It carried clear water in dry weather. Surface water sewers now drained into it, causing the flow to increase following wet weather.  The prime function of the channel was now the carrying of surface water sewage.