Can a New York village stop providing water to customers who live outside the village limits?

Plain-English summary

The Village of Canajoharie ran a water main several miles from its source to the village, and over the years had let property owners along the route tap into the main under Water Connection and Use Contracts. A state-funded renovation moved water treatment from the source to the village itself, so the main would now carry only untreated water. The Village asked whether it had to keep supplying potable water to the outside customers, or even pay for individual treatment systems for them.

The AG's office said no. New York Village Law § 11-1120 lets a village sell water to outside customers, but does not require it. A village can sell to outside users on whatever terms the parties agree to, and can terminate the relationship at any time on reasonable notice. The Canajoharie contracts themselves provided for thirty days' written notice and for shutoff if the Village considered continued supply detrimental. Reasonable notice, the office added, meant giving customers enough time to line up another water source. If outside customers still wanted untreated water from the main, the Village could continue to sell it to them at a price reflecting the lower quality.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1999. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did the Village have to keep providing potable water?
A: No. Village Law § 11-1120 makes water sales to outside customers permissive, not mandatory. The Village was free to stop selling potable water as long as it gave reasonable notice.

Q: Did the Village have to pay for individual treatment systems or wells for affected customers?
A: No. Because the Village had no obligation to keep supplying potable water in the first place, it had no obligation to subsidize a private replacement.

Q: What counted as "reasonable notice"?
A: The opinion said reasonable notice meant giving customers sufficient time to arrange other sources of water supply. The contracts specified thirty days, which the Village had committed to; the AG's office did not say thirty days was the floor in every case, only that customers needed practical time to react.

Q: Could the Village still let outside customers draw untreated water?
A: Yes. The opinion noted the Village could enter into new contracts to supply untreated water at rates reflecting that the consumer would have to treat it. That was an option, not an obligation on either side.

Q: Did the easements over private property obligate the Village to keep delivering water to those property owners?
A: The Village had advised the AG's office that the easements did not contain that obligation. The opinion's reasoning rested on the statutory authority and the contract terms, not on any property right tied to the easements.

Background and statutory framework

Village Law § 11-1120 authorizes a village to sell to a corporation, individual, or water district outside the village the right to connect to village mains for the purpose of drawing water, and to set the prices and conditions. The statute is permissive: it gives villages the option to sell water outside their borders but does not compel them to. It also prohibits such sales if the supply is not sufficient for the village and its inhabitants.

The case law, summarized in 1965 Op Atty Gen 62 and rooted in Matter of Penn-York Lanes, Inc. v Village of Waverly, 26 Misc 2d 150 (Sup Ct Tioga County 1960), confirms that a village has no obligation to sell water to non-resident users and may terminate an existing arrangement at any time on reasonable notice. The Canajoharie contracts mirrored that case-law rule by including a thirty-day notice provision.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• N.Y. Village Law § 11-1120 (sale of water outside the village is optional)

Cases and prior AG opinions:

• Matter of Penn-York Lanes, Inc. v Village of Waverly, 26 Misc 2d 150 (Sup Ct Tioga County 1960) (village has no obligation to sell water to non-residents; may terminate on reasonable notice)
• 1965 Op Atty Gen 62

Source

• Landing page: https://ag.ny.gov/libraries-documents/opinions/opinions-year
• Original PDF: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/I_99-31_pw.pdf

Original opinion text

VILLAGE LAW § 11-1120.
Under the facts presented, a Village may terminate supplying
water to outside residents upon reasonable notice.

October 13, 1999
Charles H. Clark, Esq.
Village Attorney
Village of Canajoharie
P. O. Box 180
Canajoharie, New York 13317-0180

Informal Opinion
No. 99-31

Dear Mr. Clark:
You have asked several questions about the Village's
obligation to supply water to current customers who are owners of
property located outside the territorial limits of the Village
("non-resident owners"). In your opinion request and in
subsequent telephone conversations, you explained that the
Village's water supply source is located several miles outside
the Village. Approximately forty years ago the Village obtained
easements over private property to lay and maintain a water main
running from the source to the Village. Since that time, the
water has been treated at its source to make it potable and then
has been piped to the Village through the main.
You have advised us that the easements do not obligate the
Village to supply water to the non-resident owners of the
property through which the main passes. The Village has,
however, entered into "Water Connection and Use Contracts" with
non-resident property owners and tenants who live along the
main's route. The contracts authorize the parties to connect
water lines to the main and set rates for the use of the water.
The contracts state that the Village will supply pipes,
connections and parts from the point of connection with the main
to the curb stop. Pipes and other materials necessary to lead
the water from the curb stop to the premises are to be supplied
by the customer. The contracts also provide:
The said village of Canajoharie shall have
the right to shut off the water on my
premises at any time as the supply of water
for the said Village of Canajoharie, or for
its inhabitants may become insufficient, or
if for any reason, the Village considers the

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supplying of the water to my premises
detrimental to the interest of said Village
or to its inhabitants.
The contracts also provide that the Village may revoke permission
to use the water upon 30 days' written notice.
You have informed us that the Village has received a grant
to renovate its water supply. Engineers planning the renovation
have determined that the Village should no longer treat its water
at the source. Instead, when the new system is in place
untreated water will be piped to the Village for treatment. In
the future, therefore, the main to which the Village's
non-resident customers have connected their lines will carry only
untreated water. You have advised us that the Village is willing
to continue to permit these customers to draw untreated water
from its main. You have asked whether it may do so or whether it
must continue to supply potable water to the non-residents. You
also have asked whether, if the Village is required to continue
providing potable water, it must offer to pay for individual
treatment systems or wells at the customer's option.
We conclude that the Village is not obligated to continue
supplying potable water to property owners outside the
territorial limits of the Village. The Village Law permits, but
does not require, villages to
sell to a corporation, individual or water
district outside the village the right to
make connections with the mains or reservoirs
of such village for the purpose of drawing
water therefrom and fix the prices and
conditions therefor. Village Law § 11-1120.
The statute prohibits such sales if the water supply is not
sufficient for the Village and its inhabitants. Id.
A village thus has no obligation to sell water to
non-resident users. 1965 Op Atty Gen 62 (citing Matter of
Penn-York Lanes, Inc. v Village of Waverly, 26 Misc 2d 150
[Sup Ct Tioga County 1960]). If a village contracts to sell
water to an outside user, it may terminate its agreement at any
time upon reasonable notice. Id. The Village's contracts
specify that permission to use the Village water supply may be
revoked upon thirty days' written notice. They also state that
the Village may discontinue the water supply to non-resident
customers if for any reason it determines that continuing the
supply would be detrimental to the Village or its inhabitants.

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Assuming the Village has provided the customers in question
with reasonable notice that, due to the change in its treatment
system, it will no longer be able to supply them with potable
water, we believe it may discontinue the service without further
obligation. In our view, under the facts presented reasonable
notice means providing customers with sufficient time to arrange
for other sources of water supply. If customers wish to receive
untreated water, the Village may contract with them to supply it.
Presumably the rates charged under such a contract would reflect
the fact that the water is untreated and that the consumer would
bear the additional expense of rendering it potable.
The Attorney General renders formal opinions only to
officers and departments of State government. This perforce is
an informal and unofficial expression of the views of this
office.
Very truly yours,

SIOBHAN S. CRARY
Assistant Solicitor General