Extinguishment of Continuous Servitude by Non-Use

A property owner sued a neighboring landowner, alleging that an ancient servitude allowing water drainage across the servient estate had been extinguished by non-use for over the prescriptive period, despite the neighbor's claim that the servitude was a necessary, continuous, and apparent one. The court rejected the appeal, reasoning that a servitude is only extinguished by non-use if it is a discontinuous servitude; continuous servitudes, even if apparent, are only extinguished by use contrary to the servitude, or by an event that makes the exercise of the servitude impossible, thus affirming that the historical drainage right was not extinguished solely by the owner of the dominant estate failing to actively use it for the required time.