From your post I get that you intend to place a berm or raised bed along yout property line to obstruct the flow of water onto your land.

Stop. Don't do it. Or at least consult a qualified lawyer before doing so. It could be that you would have to remove the expensive work you had done, pay damages to the upland owner, and possibilly even his attorney cost.

Law differs from state to state, but the most common applicaton is the civil law doctrine of drainage.

A good overview can be found at:
http://publicworks.co.marion.or.us/engineering/DevEng/drainagelaw.asp

"The lower owner must accept water which naturally comes to his land from above, ..."

In Arizona:
https://www.coconino.az.gov/uploadedFiles/Public_Works/Homeowner_Guide_To_Drainage.pdf

"A second drainage law is "The Civil Law Rule of Natural rainage". This rule states that a landowner has the burden of receiving onto his/her land the surface water naturally falling onto and freely flowing onto it from land above it. The rule further states that a landowner has the right to have the surface water falling upon his/her land and naturally flowing onto it to flow freely from it onto lower parcels as it would flow under natural conditions. The key words are "naturally flowing". Any modifications to the surface topography or the drainage ways that cause natural flow to enter or leave a property differently (different peak flow elevations, frequencies and flow locations) can create a liability and put you at risk regarding litigation."

Or from:
http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/pdf_pubs/DRAINAGE98.PDF

"A landowner has no right to obstruct the flow of surface
water. The owner of lower land obviously has no right to
build a dam, levee, or other artificial structure that will
interfere with the drainage of higher land, according to the
CIVIL LAW as it is applied in Illinois."

"A landowner has no right to obstruct the flow of surface
water. The owner of lower land obviously has no right to
build a dam, levee, or other artificial structure that will
interfere with the drainage of higher land, according to the
CIVIL LAW as it is applied in Illinois."

I wish I knew this when our neighbor put in a giant 12' long and 5' high earth berm on our boundary line. actually it is 3 feet into our yard - at the time I didn't know it was in our yard - until we got a survey for a fence, and by that time (3-4 years or so) I didn't think I could pursue litigation to have him remove it. So our fence goes over this dumb berm.

Anyone know if I can still have him remove it. I have pics of the yard before it was there.

I didn't know about the drainage thing. The water used to just rush into his yard from ours because it is down a slope though. Doesn't really bother our drainage onto our property, but it being 3 feet into our yard sure does.

"Anyone know if I can still have him remove it."

The statute of limitations for bringing an action varies from state to state, but is often more than 4 years for property issues.

There is a separate legal principle that may aply, that of estopple. Some states charge a property owner with constructual knowledge of his land boundary, whether he has actual knowledge or not.

Where a land owner, knowing that a neighbor is about to expend labor and money on a structure that is going to be across the boundary, stands silent and fails to object when he can plainly see that a later objection will cause the neighbor to suffer a loss, estopple will operate to hold the land owner to the original position he took, silence, and bar the later objection.

If the law says you knew your boundary and you also knew the location of the berm before, or as it was being built, you may be out of luck. Estopple is complicated and I have simplfied it here. Consult a good land lawyer and please know he may not win what he says he can in court.

I think what I will do is just leave the issue alone, we have been at constant odds with this neighbor over the years due to his continuous lack of respect for our property. And I really don't want to get into legal battles with this person. But this is good advice for future reference for sure!

Thanks.

In regards to the raised garden bed: you could create a garden bed which is designed to filter storm water and direct it to a suitable runoff area. not exact, but basically you put a pipe with holes in the bottom, gravel gravel, filtration media, soil and plants. the pipe exits the garden bed after filtration. you can lead that pipe to the edge of your property where it can then run down the street to a drain. since it is filtered, it would also help the environment by preventing contaminant runoff into waterways. Or look into rain gardens! these are designed for the same purpose but do not require the raised planter.

I have been thinking about usung raised bed for roof water that runs off

planting shrubs n flower to help spread the rain fall

i dont have money to get the lawn dug up but i do need a water garden to soak all the water up i have a cutoff from a down pipe do you think it would be idea to place it in the raised garden

i have lottssa railways sleepers doing nothing im to old to be digging any advice is good the house is to far from the curb for me to extend and divert

ehy cant a water garden be put in stacked råilway sleeper?