Facts
Emil Loretan, the owner of the Hotel Römerhof in Leukerbad, purchased a 100 m2 plot of land (Parcel No. 4707) from Peter Grichting in 1964. On this property, a thermal spring emerges, which Loretan wanted to use for the operation of a swimming pool at his hotel. However, the municipality of Leukerbad obtained a precautionary order prohibiting Loretan from continuing the work to capture the spring. The municipality then filed a lawsuit with the aim of establishing that the spring is owned by the municipality.
Considerations
The Federal Court decided that the thermal spring belongs to the owner of the land on which it emerges. According to Art. 704 para. 1 and Art. 667 para. 2 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB), springs are part of the property on which they emerge and can only be acquired together with that property.
The Federal Court found that the defendant Loretan's land ownership extends to the outermost upper edge of the rock face from which the spring emerges. Thus, the source point is within the area of his land ownership. Even if the…