Easement doesn’t exist on private property from city utility

Question

What if any backpay could be sought from a city utility in IA that ran their main waterline diagonally across a 3.25 acre private property without obtaining an easement to do so for 56 years? The service line is only about six feet long from the foundation of the home to the mainline. And neither the city nor the owner knew where the mainline ran until about two years ago when a leak sprung up in the mainline. There is another private property that this line goes to that’s a neighbor. They have the same issue. And does the easement come from the city utility or the neighbor that the mainline goes to eventually for them to get their water access? And we are not within city limits but have had this city utility the entire 56 years.

Answer 1

What if any backpay could be sought from a city utility in IA that ran their main waterline diagonally across a 3.25 acre private property without obtaining an easement to do so for 56 years?

If there wasn't a deeded easement, and there was no unrecorded written grant of permission to put the water main in, the easement would arise by prescription (the analog to adverse possession for easements) and the city utility would have an easement by operation of law now. And, the statute of limitations to seek compensation would have expired many decades ago.

If there was a written agreement, that would have created a legally valid easement, even if it wasn't recorded, as to anyone with knowledge of the existence of the agreement, or who should have known that the water main was there because they have municipal water service that implies that their water line connects to a water main somewhere.

An easement by prescription arises after ten years in Iowa (and runs without regard to who owns it in the chain of title). So, the city utility gained an easement for the water main not later than 46 years ago.

The statute of limitations to seek compensation, which would be sought in a lawsuit against the city utility for trespass is five years from when the owner or prior owner of the property knew or should have known that someone put a water line on their property (realistically, from the time that it was installed). So, the statute of limitations to sue the city utility for compensation expired something like 51 years ago.

Realistically, the most likely scenario is that the owners of the property agreed to allow the water main to be put in, in exchange for an unrecorded but legally binding agreement, in exchange for being allowed to receive municipal water service from the city utility. This is the most likely reason why this was never litigated, and was never reflected in a deeded easement recorded after negotiations with the land owners, or a decree in an eminent domain proceeding filed by the city.