upholding injunction against hydraulic mining company that had been “daily discharging into the [American] river between four and five thousand cubic yards of solid material from its said mine, to-wit, of bowlders [sic], cobbles, gravel, and sand,” which, together with similar discharges of other companies, had caused the American and Sacramento Rivers to become 6 to 12 feet shallower, making navigation much more difficult, and in some places impossible, and the likelihood of flooding much greater
How later courts described this case
- upholding injunction against hydraulic mining company that had been “daily discharging into the [American] river between four and five thousand cubic yards of solid material from its said mine, to-wit, of bowlders [sic], cobbles, gravel, and sand,” which, together with similar discharges of other companies, had caused the American and Sacramento Rivers to become 6 to 12 feet shallower, making navigation much more difficult, and in some places impossible, and the likelihood of flooding much greater
- “An 24 unauthorized invasion of the rights of the public to navigate the water flowing over the soil 25 is a public nuisance; and an unauthorized encroachment upon the soil itself is known in 26 law as a purpresture.”
- describing environmental impacts of the California Gold Rush
- affirming injunction against hydraulic gold mining because of impacts on downstream riv- ers
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Sharpstein, J., and Ross, J., concurring
-We think the decree in its entirety should be affirmed.