The beds of nonnavigable streams belong to the owner of the adjacent land. If the stream is a dividing line between two parcels of land, each owner's boundary shall extend to the thread or the center of the main current of the water. If the current changes gradually, the boundary line follows the current. If from any cause the stream takes a new channel, the original line, if identifiable, remains the boundary. Gradual accretions of land on either side accrue to the owner of that side.
(Orig. Code 1863, § 2207; Code 1868, § 2202; Code 1873, § 2228; Code 1882, § 2228; Civil Code 1895, § 3058; Civil Code 1910, § 3630; Code 1933, § 85-1302.)
Cross references.- Jurisdiction of county over stream of water which forms boundary of county, § 36-1-2.
Diversion, obstruction, or pollution of nonnavigable watercourses as constituting trespass, § 51-9-7.
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERALThe consent of the riparian owner must be obtained before removing floating logs from nonnavigable streams. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 220.
For discussion of the scope of riparian rights and the "right of access" to a nonnavigable, freshwater impoundment, see 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-130.