For authority to erect such dam, application in writing, verified by affidavit, must be made to the probate court of the county in which it is proposed to erect the mill, gin, factory or electric light plant, if by the owner of the land on both sides of the stream or if by the owner of the land on one side only, to the court of probate of the county in which the land on the opposite side of the stream, abutting the proposed site of the dam, lies.
Ala. Code § 18-2-2 (1975)