DRAINAGE LAWS 217 



" The first of these is under the Agricultural Drainage 

 Statute, Consolidated Laws of the State of New York, 

 chapter 15, as amended by chapter 624 of the Laws of 

 1910. The second provision is contained in the act estab- 

 lishing the State Conservation Commission, Consoli- 

 dated Laws, chapter 65, article 8. The general procedure 

 is the same under both acts, and the cost of securing the 

 right of way and constructing the drainage ditch is assessed 

 against the land benefited. These laws usually deal with 

 the large outlet canals, but are applicable in securing an 

 outlet for the drain from a single farm. 



" In a general way, advantage may be taken of the natural 

 fall of the land in establishing an outlet for a drainage 

 system, and adjoining property owners must provide 

 for the drainage water so discharged as surface water. As 

 yet no such obligation is recognized to apply to water 

 collected and discharged by tile drains except as it reaches 

 the adjoining property as surface water in a natural drain- 

 age course. There are very few cases of drainage that are 

 not provided for in the existing drainage laws of the 

 State." 



290. The right of a group of individuals to drain. 

 When a tract of land, embracing the holdings of more than 

 one person, requires drainage, and when few, if any, of 

 the holdings lie adjacent to a natural water-way or drainage 

 course, and where the topography is such that they must, 

 or may, discharge their drainage waters along a common 

 course, this tract may be organized into a drainage dis- 

 trict. The purposes of such a procedure include 

 economy, efficiency and justice, both in construction and 

 up-keep. Several things must be considered. The size 

 of the mains or sub-mains increases as they approach the 

 outlet for the district. In some, probably most, cases 



