§ 5-72-105 — Obstruction of drains by timber or material - Floating logs or boom

(a) (1) It is unlawful for any person or corporation to cause any timber, tree, or material to be felled or thrown into any ditch, drain, stream, or canal, whether natural or artificial, that tends to obstruct the free flow of water in the ditch, drain, stream, or canal. (2) However, this subsection does not prevent any person from floating a log or having a boom in any natural stream in this state if the floating of the log or use of the boom does not tend to overflow the land adjacent to the boom. (b) (1) Any person, levee district, or drainage district interested in the maintenance of the free flow of water through any stream, drain, ditch, or canal, may remove any timber, tree, or material in the stream, ditch, drain, or canal that tends to obstruct the free flow of water. (2) The person, levee district, or drainage district has a cause of action against any person or corporation that may have felled or thrown, or caused to be felled or thrown timber, a tree, or material into a stream, drain, ditch, or canal, for the reasonable cost of removing the timber, tree, or material. (c) Any person or corporation that violates subsection (a) of this section is guilty of a violation and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

Legislative History

Acts 1905, No. 320, §§ 1-3, p. 764; C. & M. Dig., §§ 3662-3664; Pope's Dig., §§ 4513-4515; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 21-406 -- 21-408; Acts 2005, No. 1994, § 469; 2007, No. 827, § 95.