The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Excess water must not be withheld in order to prevent the grazing of pasture."
أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: لا يمنع فضل الماء ليمنع به الكلا.
Malik narrated it in "Judgments" (29) from Abu Zinad, from Araj, from Abu Hurairah, and he mentioned it. Bukhari narrated it in "Sharecropping" (2353), and Muslim in "Sharecropping" (1566:36), both through the route of Malik with the same wording. Muslim (38) also narrated it through the route of Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman (who is Ibn Awf), from Abu Hurairah, as a raised report with the wording, "The surplus of water is not to be sold in order to sell pasture through it." "Pasture" here means vegetation, whether moist or dry.Similar in meaning is what has been reported from him as a raised report, "Do not withhold surplus water, and do not withhold pasture, for then livestock grow lean and dependents go hungry." Ahmad (9458) and Ibn Hibban (4956) both narrated it through the hadith of Ibn Wahb, who said, I heard Haywa say, Humayd bin Hani Khawlani related to me, from Abu Saeed, the freedman of Ghifar, who said, I heard Abu Hurairah say, and he mentioned it.Abu Saeed, the freedman of Ghifar, was not deemed reliable by anyone except Ibn Hibban (5/573), so he requires corroboration, which I have not found. Therefore the wording "livestock grow lean and dependents go hungry" contains an irregularity.