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. -- It 1-15-80 ~ 1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF DRAINAGE LAW. liVery li ttle is ga ined if the same ac t which dries up one tract of land renders the adjoining tract twice as difficult to redeem.1I Livingston v. McDonald, 21 Iowa 160, 170 (1866). A. Private Liability. Traditionally, courts have analyzed the legal relations between parties in drainage matters in terms of such property con- cepts as natural easements, rights, privileges, and servitudes, but have based liability for interfering with surface waters on tort principles. See Kenyon and McClure Interferences With Surface Waters, 24 Minn. L. Rev. 891 (1940). Drainage and flood control problems attendant with increased urbanization, the trend in tort law toward shifting the burden of a loss to the best risk-bearer, and complete or partial abolition of governmental immunity by the judiciary or the legislature, will continue to change the traditional rules that have governed legal relations between parties in drainage matters. These changes are reflected in the three basic rules relating to drainage of surface waters that have been applied over a period of time in the United States: the common enemy rule, the civil law rule (later to be called. a 11modified civil law rulell), and the reasonable use rule. 1. Common Enemy Rule. Und2r the common enemy rule, which is also referred to as the common law rule, surface water is regarded as a common enemy which each property owner may fight off or control as he will or is able, either by retention, diversion, repulsion, or altered transmission. Thus, there is no cause of action even if some injury occurs causing damage. All jurisdictions originally following this harsh rule have either modified the rule or adop.ted the civil law rule or reasonable use rule. 5 Water and Water Rights, ~~450.6, 451.2 (R.E. Clark ed. 1972). 2. Civil Law Rule. The civil law rule, or natural flow rule, places a natural easement or servitude upon the lower land for the drainage of surface water in its natural course and the natural flow of the water cannot be obstructed by the servient owner to the detriment of the dominant owner. 5 Water and Water Rights, ~452.2A (R.E. Clark ed. 1972). Most states following this rule, including Colorado, have modified the rule. Under the modified rule, the owner of upper ( 1 )