avulsion
The sudden change of a body of water (often by a flood) that is serving as a property boundry. Under the Rule of Avulsion, the property line will remain at the previous location.
Compare to alluvion (a gradual change in the body of water that does change the property line)
Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary
Change in the border of two properties due to a sudden change in the natural course of a stream or river, such as a flood, when the border is defined by the channel of the waterway. A famous American case is the Mississippi River's change which put Vicksburg on the other side of the river.
Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.
August 19, 2010, 5:11 pm
