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Riparian water rights
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Property law |
|---|
| Part of the common law series |
| Acquisition of property |
| Gift · Adverse possession · Deed |
| Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property |
| Alienation · Bailment · License |
| Estates in land |
| Allodial title · Fee simple · Fee tail |
| Life estate · Defeasible estate |
| Future interest · Concurrent estate |
| Leasehold estate · Condominiums |
| Conveyancing of interests in land |
| Bona fide purchaser · Torrens title |
| Estoppel by deed · Quitclaim deed |
| Mortgage · Equitable conversion |
| Action to quiet title |
| Limiting control over future use |
| Restraint on alienation |
| Rule against perpetuities |
| Rule in Shelley's Case |
| Doctrine of worthier title |
| Nonpossessory interest in land |
| Easement · Profit |
| Covenant running with the land |
| Equitable servitude |
| Related topics |
| Fixtures · Waste · Partition |
| Riparian water rights |
| Lateral and subjacent support |
| Assignment · Nemo dat |
| Other areas of the common law |
| Contract law · Tort law |
| Wills and trusts |
| Criminal Law · Evidence |
Riparian water rights (or simply riparian rights) is a system of allocating water among those who possess land about its source. It has its origins in English common law. It is used in the United Kingdom and states in the eastern United States.
Under the riparian principle, all landowners whose property is adjacent to a body of water have the right to make reasonable use of it. If there is not enough water to satisfy all users, allotments are generally fixed in proportion to frontage on the water source. These rights cannot be sold or transferred other than with the adjoining land, and water cannot be transferred out of the watershed.
Riparian rights include such things as the right to access for swimming, boating and fishing; the right to wharf out to a point of navigability; the right to erect structures such as docks, piers, and boat lifts; the right to use the water for domestic purposes; the right to accretions caused by water level fluctuations; the right to view and protection of view. Riparian rights also depend upon "reasonable use" as it relates to other riparian owners to ensure that the rights of one riparian owner are weighed fairly and equitably with the rights of adjacent riparian owners.
In the western United States, water rights are generally allocated under the principle of prior appropriation, which treats water as a resource unrelated to land.
- air rights
- Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (in the UK)
- crown land (see "logging and mineral rights" under Canada)
- easement ("the right of use over the real property of another")
- freedom to roam
- land rights
- prior appropriation water rights
- riparian zone
- drinking water
- water rights
- United States groundwater law
This page on the UK Environment Agency website details rights and responsibilities as a riverside owner in the UK.
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