Plaintiff complains and says that the defendant city paved its streets, and under a portion of the pavement has constructed and now maintains a storm sewer, which receives, carries, and discharges the surface water, which falls or flows upon the pavement, onto plaintiff's land; that by this means the city artificially drains a large portion of its entire surface onto plaintiff's property; that within said territory all the rainfall and melting snow and all waters cast thereon by the street sprinklers and from the flushing of its hydrants are carried into this sewer, and through it onto plaintiff's property; that this sewer has its outlet at or near Fifth and Victoria Streets, at which point it empties its waters rapidly and in large quantities upon the property and right of way of the Chicago Great Western Railway Company, whence it passes promiscuously across the right of way of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company and across the right of way of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company upon plaintiff's land; that the outlet of said storm sewer is neither at, in, nor near a natural watercourse through which such water might be carried away; that, if said pavement and said storm sewer were not maintained, the water which falls or comes upon said city's territory would evaporate or seep into the ground and disappear, and only a small portion of the same would find its way to the land of plaintiff; that some would drain into natural watercourses in the north and south part of the city, and would not find its way to plaintiff's land; that a large portion of the city's territory is not naturally drained by the swale through which said storm sewer has its outlet; that, under the conditions complained of, all the water that falls and all that comes upon the streets finds its way over the pavement into said sewer, and through it onto plaintiff's land. It was stipulated upon the trial that, under and by virtue of proper enactments and ordinances, and by resolutions properly passed, defendant city duly and legally fixed and established the permanent grade of its several streets, including the streets involved in this controversy, and that the grades so established were in accordance with the plan and recommendations of a competent and capable engineer, and all done after a proper examination and survey by said engineer of the streets and property abutting thereon and adjacent thereto; that, after the grades of the streets had been planned and surveyed and established, the city adopted and fixed the permanent grades of its streets, including all streets in controversy, and subsequently, by and through its council and mayor, under the necessary and required acts, resolutions, ordinances, and proceedings required by law, caused said streets, including the streets involved in this controversy, to be brought to permanent grades, and proceeded properly and lawfully, by ordinance and resolution, to pave, curb, and gutter the same and to provide proper drainage therefor; that the bringing of said streets to grade and the paving thereof and the providing of curbs and gutters therefor, as well as the construction and establishment of the storm sewer and sewers herein involved, wherever constructed, and especially at the place complained of by plaintiff, as well as the provisions for the drainage of said streets, were all done and provided under the direction and in accordance with the plans, specifications, and survey of an efficient and competent civil engineer, employed by the city for that purpose, in the doing of which things the city was in no way careless or negligent; that, in the establishment of the grades and in doing the work in bringing said streets to grade, and in the making of said improvements thereon and therein, all the proceedings, resolutions, and ordinances were duly passed, adopted, enacted, and complied with as by law provided, and all notices required by law in the making of said improvements and in the establishment of said grades were duly and legally given. A city is authorized, under our statute, to bring its streets to grade. This involves the idea of lowering or raising them above the natural level of the ground at points where the necessities of travel demand a lowering or raising. It has the power to open, grade, and improve its streets, and this involves grading, paving, and guttering. In determining the necessity for these, it acts in a legislative capacity, and is not answerable for error of judgment in this respect. In the very nature of things, the changing of agricultural or rural lands into city territory necessitates some disturbance of the surface of the ground, and out of this inevitably grows a disturbance of the surface drainage of the ground. Where, in the exercise of the rights given it by statute, it follows the requirements of the statute, it is not liable for consequences that follow the doing of the act, without some showing, at least, of negligence in the manner of the doing. It is not liable for results that follow the discharge of its public duties without negligence. Where a city has authority, under the statute, to do a particular thing, through its properly constituted officers, it cannot be held liable to a citizen for consequences that follow the doing, in the absence of some showing of negligence in the manner of the doing. A natural person has the right to a proper and profitable use of his own land; and if, in the exercise of such right, without fault or negligence, loss unavoidably occurs to his neighbor, the neighbor is without remedy. Cities and towns, as such, certainly are invested with as much immunity in the exercise of rights over their property as individuals. If, in the doing of these things, which it has the right to do under the law, for the public good and for the proper and profitable use of its own territory, it causes, without negligence, injury to a citizen, the citizen is without remedy. If we should hold the city liable to individuals for consequential damages resulting solely from the improvement of the city in the grading, guttering, and paving of its streets, done properly and in strict accordance with the requirements of the statute, upon a simple showing that injury occurred from the doing, without any showing of negligence in the manner of the doing, we would be going a long way in preventing any improvement. If we should hold that the city is liable to a citizen for consequential damages, upon the simple showing that the city, in the lawful exercise of its right, without negligence in the manner of the doing, graded its streets and paved and guttered them, and, as an incident thereto and a consequence thereof, the surface water was diverted from the course it pursued in the state of nature, we would throw in the way of public improvement insur Vol. 184 IA.-12 mountable stumbling blocks. This would be especially true where it is not shown that the city, by the exercise of reasonable care and thoughtfulness for the safety of the citi zen, could have done the work complained of in any other manner. The act of the city in determining the necessity for the work is legislative. The doing of the work and the manner of the doing may be ministerial. Where there is no fault in the doing or in the manner of the doing, it cannot be held liable for consequential damages flowing from the exercise of the right to do. So much for the general proposition. 2. WATER AND Concretely, however, we are met by the proposition that a citizen has no right to divert water from the course of its natural drainage and cast it upon the land of his neighbor in greater quantities or in any other manner than it would go in the course of nature. The citizen may tile his land into a natural channel on his land, even though doing this may facilitate the flow of surface water into the natural channel. He may lay tile in a natural channel or watercourse on his own land, even though the effect of it is to facilitate the flow of water along the chan nel. He may tile his land into a natural channel or watercourse, even though it increases the volume of water that flows into the natural channel or watercourse. In doing so, he does no wrong for which he is answerable, provided the waters brought into said channel and discharged are ultimately released at the same place at which they would have been discharged in the course of nature. We are speaking now of surface water; and the fact that evaporation and seepage are interfered with does not change the situation. Of course, a citizen cannot dig a ditch and divert the water from its natural course, and then tile into that ditch and discharge the waters upon his neighbor; but, if there is a natural watercourse, or a course through which |