Riparian and Littoral Rights Flashcards

Riparian and Littoral Rights Flashcards Mean high tideIs the average height of the high water over a 19 year period.Common LawBeds of nonnegotiable streams are privately owned. But the beds of navigable streams are owned by the state.Tidal WatersWaters in which the tide ebbs and flows are known as tidal waters or coastal waters.Rivers and streams are considered to be tidal waters to the extent that the waters in these streams are affected by the ebb and flow of the tide.Gradient BoundaryWas stablished in Texas as the boundary between state-owned beds of navigable streams and adjoining private lands.TidesWhen the sun, moon, and earth are in line and pulling in the same direction, the tides are highest and called Spring Tides. When the attraction of the sun and moon are at 90 degrees to each other, the tides are the lowest and are called Neap Tides.Spanish and Mexican LawThe sovereign owns both the water and beds of perennial streams whether they are navigable or not. The beds of non-perennial streams, called torrential stream, belong to the adjacent owners, each owning to the center of the stream.Offshore submerge landsIn 1953 by act of congress these lands were returned to the states.Boundary changes caused by Accretion, Erosion, Reliction and Avulsion Where accretion, erosion, or reliction occurs along a river or stream, the boundary of the riparian owner does not remain fixed but changes with the change in the gradient boundary.When avulsion occurs along a navigable stream, the owner of the land across which the new channel was formed loses tittle to the bed of the new channel to the State, but ownership of the land between the new and old channels does not change.Tittle to the bed of the old channel passes to the riparian owners from the state, unless the stream uses both channels, in which case the state has tittle to the bed of both channels.ErosionIs the gradual wearing away of the soil by operation of the action of water, wind, or other elements.AlluviumThe deposits made by water on a shore are known as Alluvium. Create by silt, rocks etc.Littoral RightsLittoral rights are very much the same as riparian. Littoral owners on the ocean or gulf have the right to use the water

and beach for bathing and boating, but they do not have exclusive rights.

ThalwegDeepest part of navigable channel Meander LinesSurveyors run meander lines in order to plat a stream.Where a grant or patent calls for the shore of a stream or for the middle of the stream, it is this line that is the boundary and not the meander line.IslandsIf an island is on one side of a non-navigable stream between one bank and the middle of the stream the island belong to the riparian owner on that side. If it is in the middle of the stream the island is owned by both owners.Ownership of Beds of LakesThe common law rule is that ownership of the bed of a non-navigable lake is with the littoral owner and extends to the center of the lakes unless the conveyance specifies otherwise.Riparian RightsThe riparian owner may use the water in the stream for any reasonable use which the stream is adapted such as domestic water, water for animals, fishing boating and swimming.Riparian rights also include rights to stream beds and to the alluvium below the water.Federal LawWhile the waters and beds of navigable streams are the property of states, the federal government has absolute supremacy over navigation on navigable streams within a state.The federal government can take action against a state or individual for any acts that might interfere with navigability.AvulsionThe sudden and perceptible change of a course of a river or stream forming a new channel across a horseshoe bend is known as avulsion TidelandsThe waters of bays, inlets, bayous, and arms of the Atlantic, Pacific, and the Gulf of Mexico and the soil laying beneath them are owned by the sovereign, the state.Under common law, the line between the seashore and the upland state (between state and private land) is the land of mean high tide.AccretionWhen land is formed slowly and imperceptibly by alluvium, the process is known as Accretion.RelictionThe gradual withdraw of water that leaves land uncovered, such as the shore of a lake gradually receding is known as reliction.Riparian and Littoral ownersPersons who own land abutting a river or a stream known as riparian owners, and they have certain rights to, or in the water.Persons who own land on a body of water such as a gulf or ocean are known as Littoral owners.