Riparian doctrine refers to the doctrine in property law that deals mainly with a body of water bordering a piece of land. The doctrine of riparian rights claims that the legal water right belongs to the landowner if the water flows within the land border of the landowner and the landowner uses the water for reasonable and beneficial use. The doctrine of riparian rights reflects the idea of prior appropriation (first-in-time principle); the labor theory concept that those who use the water for reasonable and beneficial use first have a superior right to later appropriators.
The landowner of the land where the rainwater ended up can also have the right to the rainwater, and the doctrine allows the landowner to make reasonable use of the rainwater. However, imagine that the rainwater used within the border of the landowner’s real estate unreasonably interferes with the use of the rainwater by other individuals. If so, the landowner may not be permitted to make use of the rainwater. For example, a riparian user constructing a marina to lease jet skis on a tiny lake. If the marina is too big for a tiny lake, it makes the recreational use of other members unreasonably hard due to the crowded lake. The hypothetical riparian user here might be prevented from constructing the marina to protect other riparian property users.
Mainly Eastern states adopt the doctrine of riparian rights. The riparian rights cannot be sold or purchased. Also, the landowner’s non-use of the water rights does not take the riparian rights away from the landowner since the riparian rights are permanently attached to the land and cannot be separated from the land. Some jurisdictions that do not recognize riparian rights may deem any body of water as state property.
See also: Water Resources Development Act (1996).
[Last updated in April of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]