Chapter 35 Airspace and Water Rights
Figure 35-1 Twelve nautical miles at low tide
1.
At common law, ownership of real property extended from the center of
the earth to the "periphery of the universe."
2.
The U.S. Congress has enacted legislation that gives the public the right of
freedom of transit through the navigable airspace of the United States.
3.
In airport cases, the courts have tried to strike a balance between the
landowner's right to exclusive possession, free from intrusion, and the public interest in
air travel.
4.
Projecting eaves of a building and leaning walls are examples of a trespass
into another's airspace.
5.
A tree belongs to the person on whose land the trunk is located. Abutters
have the right to cut off trespassing branches in their airspace and trespassing roots at the
boundary line of their property.
6.
Trees and other natural growth are called fructus naturales. Crops
produced annually by labor and industry are called fructus industriales.
7.
The prior appropriation doctrine, followed in some western states where
water is scarce, allows the first person who puts water to beneficial use the right to do so
even though the flow of water is cut off to other riparian owners.
8.
When a stream is the boundary line between two parcels of land, each
abutter owns to the center of the stream if it is non-navigable. If the stream is navigable,
however, each abutter owns only to the bank of the stream, the stream and bed being
owned by the state.
9.
Modern laws give property owners the right to use only that amount of
water under their land that is reasonably necessary to satisfy their needs.
10.
A small pond is owned by the person who owns the ground underneath. A
great pond is owned by the state.
Understanding Legal Concepts
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F, a duty
F, personal property
F, prior appropriation doctrine
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Checking Terminology
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Using Legal Language
Nathan's and Martha's property adjoined a river on one side and a 12-acre pond, called
a(n) great pond rather than a(n) small pond on the other. Percolating waters slowly
infiltrated through the soil from the bottom of the bond and settled below the surface,
becoming known as subterranean waters. Because the river was a(n) navigable stream,
Nathan and Martha owned the land only to its bank. All the riparian owners—that is,
people along the river bank—were governed by a principle of law known as the riparian
rights doctrine, which gives all owners equal rights to the reasonable use of the water
that flows past their borders. Their state did not follow the prior appropriation
doctrine, which allows the first person who puts water to beneficial use the right to do so
at the expense of other property owners. Trees and other natural growth, known as
fructus naturales, were on the property. Nathan and Martha had planted a large crop of
vegetables, which may be referred to as fructus industriales or emblements. Although
their abutter was excavating a gravel pit on the adjoining lot, Nathan and Martha have
the right to have their land supported by the land next to it, called lateral support and by
the land under it, called subjacent support. Nathan's and Martha's ownership of the
airspace above their property, known as air rights, did not extend as high as the
navigable air space—that is, the space above 1,000 feet over populated areas.
Puzzling Over What You Learned
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Caveat: Do not allow squares for spaces between words and punctuation (apostrophes, hyphens, etc.) when filling in
crossword.
Across
Down
4. Crops produced annually by labor and industry.
6. Waters that lie wholly beneath the surface of the earth.
10.People whose property abuts the ocean or large lake.
12.A pond that is 10 acres or more in size.
13.Waters that pass through the ground beneath the surface of the earth without any definite
channel.
14.
Rights to the area above the earth’s surface.
1. Trees and other natural growth.
2. People who own adjoining land.
3. People who own land along the banks of a
river or stream.
5. To hold up at the side.
7. Crops produced annually by labor and industry.
8. To hold up from below.
9. A stream that ebbs and flows with the tide or is capable of being navigated by commercial
vessels.
11. A pond that is under 10 acres in size.