## Facts

- The Metropolitan Sewerage Commission of Milwaukee County granted Michels Pipeline Construction, Inc. an easement to construct a sewer line in Greenfield, Wisconsin.
- During construction, Michels conducted extensive dewatering by pumping groundwater from wells at the site, substantially lowering the local water table.
- Nearby residents relying on private wells from the same aquifer alleged their wells went dry or suffered reduced quantity and quality.
- Residents also alleged soil subsidence and resulting structural damage to homes.
- The State of Wisconsin, proceeding in parens patriae, sued alleging the dewatering operations constituted a public nuisance.

## Issues

1. Whether Wisconsin should retain the “absolute ownership” rule for percolating groundwater that bars claims for interference with groundwater.
2. Whether Wisconsin should instead apply a reasonable-use standard under which groundwater withdrawal may be actionable when it causes unreasonable harm.
3. Whether the State’s nuisance complaint stated a legally sufficient claim under the proper groundwater rule.

## Decision

- The Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed the order sustaining the demurrer and remanded for further proceedings.
- The court overruled prior precedent adopting an absolute right to withdraw percolating groundwater regardless of harm to neighbors.
- The court adopted a reasonable-use rule consistent with the Restatement (Second) of Torts for groundwater withdrawals.
- Applying the new rule, the court held the complaint should not have been dismissed at the pleading stage because the alleged harms could be actionable if proven unreasonable.

## Legal Principles

- Overlying landowners do not have an unqualified right to withdraw percolating groundwater without regard to harm caused to others.
- A groundwater withdrawal is generally permitted when reasonable, but liability may arise when the withdrawal:
  - causes unreasonable harm by lowering the water table or reducing artesian pressure,
  - affects an underground stream, or
  - has a direct and substantial effect on surface waters.
- Whether a particular withdrawal is unreasonable ordinarily turns on proof of causation, the gravity of harm, and the utility of the use, and is not resolved by demurrer where the complaint alleges substantial harm.

## Conclusion

The court rejected absolute ownership of percolating groundwater and adopted a reasonable-use standard, holding that alleged dewatering harms to private wells and property could support a public nuisance claim and should be tested on the merits rather than dismissed on the pleadings.


State v. Michels Pipeline Constr., Inc., 217 N.W.2d 339 (Wis. 1974)