Riparian water rights
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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. Riparian rights exist in many countries with a common law heritage, such as Canada, Australia, and states in the eastern United States.
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[edit] General principle
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. 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.[1].
In the western United States, water rights are generally allocated under the principle of prior appropriation.
[edit] Riparian rights and duties in England and Wales
The Environment Agency lists the riparian rights and duties in England and Wales:[2]
Rights:
- ownership of the land up to the centre of the watercourse - unless it is known to be owned by someone else
- right for water to flow onto your land in its natural quantity and quality
- right to protect property from flooding, and land from erosion (but subject to approval by the Agency)
- right to fish in the watercourse - however this right may be sold or leased, and a fisherman must have a valid Environment Agency rod licence.
- right to acquire accretion
- right to boomage
Duties:
- to pass on the flow of water without obstruction, pollution or diversion affecting the rights of others
- to accept flood flows, even if caused by inadequate capacity downstream, but there is no duty to improve the drainage capacity of a watercourse
- to maintain the bed and banks of the watercourse and to clear any debris, whether natural or man-made
- to keep the bed and banks clear of anything that could cause an obstruction, including an obstruction downstream, if it is washed away.
- to keep any culverts, trash screens, weirs and mill gates clear of debris
- to be responsible for protection of your land from flooding
- to not cause any obstructions - either temporary or permanent - that would prevent the free passage of fish
[edit] Riparian rights and City Island, NYC
City Island, NYC as of 1763 according to NYC Zoning Map 4d - however rights are lost when taxes are not paid on that portion of land under water - to which it extends 400' from low water mark as originally meant for oyster farming as invented on City Island.
[edit] See also
- 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
- Sustainable Habitat
- United States groundwater law
- right to light
[edit] Notes
- ^ Guerin, K. (2003). Property Rights and Environmental Policy: A New Zealand Perspective.Wellington, New Zealand: NZ Treasury
- ^ Living on the Edge - Environment Agency website, retrieved 10 December 2008
- American Law and Legal Information Encyclopedia
- Western States Water Laws: Water Approciation System
- Is Lake View one of your Riparian Rights
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