In no instance shall a greater amount of water, measured in cubic feet, than the surplus be withdrawn and carried away entirely from a stream above any mill or factory, surplus water being that full amount of water that would run to waste with a tight mill dam at such mill or factory. This Code section shall apply as fully to owners of mines as to lessees of mines.
(Ga. L. 1868, p. 139, § 6; Ga. L. 1897, p. 21, § 1; Civil Code 1910, § 803; Code 1933, § 83-206.)