Staley, 071331 PAAGO, AGO 15

• Case Date: July 13, 1931
• Court: Pennsylvania

Honorable Lewis E. Staley, Secretary of Forests and Waters, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. AGO 15 Opinion No. 15 Pennsylvania Attorney General Opinions Opinion of the Attorney General July 13, 1931          Forests and Waters—Inland Lakes—Permit—Prosecutions—Injunction—Act a of June 25, 1913, P. L. 555 and April 9, 1929, P. L. 177.          The waters of an inland lake may not be appropriated or diverted for public or private use without first making application for a permit from the Water and Power Resources Board.          The Water and Power Resources Board, may institute prosecutions against persons, who without a permit lower the waters of lakes, or it may institute proceedings in a. court of equity by injunction to restrain continuous violations.          Honorable Lewis E. Staley,          Secretary of Forests and Waters,          Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.          Sir: You asked to be advised whether it is the duty of the Water and Power Resources Board to make investigations, conduct hearings, and determine, under the Act of June 25, 1913, P. L. 555, to what extent Sandy Lake has been lowered and who are the parties responsible therefor, so that suit may be brought to have the lake restored to its former level.          In the recital of the facts concerning this lake, you inform us that it covers about one hundred and fifty (150) acres in Mercer County, and that the records of the Department of Internal Affairs show that title to the lake passed from the Commonwealth to private individuals under a warrant issued in 1794. You say that it appears that the lake has been lowered about two and one-half (2½) feet as the result of excavations at its outlet made by the Stoneboro Park Association, which owns a bathhouse and operates a bathing beach along the lake.          We find from the "Water Resources Inventory Report" Part IV, Gazetteer of Lakes and Homes 1917, that ownership is private and corporate and not limited to the store line; that Lakeside Park Company is the largest owner; that the drainage area of the lake is 4.5 square miles; that the inlets to the lake consist of several small streams fed by springs, and its outlet is a stream flowing approximately one (1) mile through marshlands to its confluence with Sandy Creek.          This small inland body of water, not being navigable, would be classified under water divisions as private waters in contradistinction to public waters, such as the Great Lakes, which are under the...