Tidal water boundaries
Dec 07, 2014
Coastal boundaries are in continual contention due to increasing population density and inflating land values while the zone is exposed to increased risks from storm surge, sea level rise and pollution. Property stakeholders since the beginning of the twentieth century have sought judicial clarifications of boundary ownership between exposed and submerged coastal ground. Judicial clarification involves definitions that use mean high or mean low tide using some form of scientific methodology. The early twentieth century court ruling of Borax v. Los Angeles (296 U.S. 10, 1935) wasn’t the first case to do so, it is widely considered as the inflection point where the court shifted from defining coastal boundaries in generic terms to setting concrete, scientifically-based locations of the tidal boundary. While many concur the Borax ruling is flawed it has become a foundation in such consideration of costal boundaries. One obvious question stemming unanswered for the case is does Borax fill the knowledge gap between legally defining the seaward property boundary and a reasonable surveyor being able to locate it on-the-ground?
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Transcript
TIDAL WATER BOUNDARIES
PRIVATE/STATE OWNERSHIP BOUNDARY
Most states use either mean high water or mean low water as the legal extent of private ownership
TIDAL WATERS
(average of higher of high water/day)
(average of high tides over 19 yrs.)
MHHW
MHW
(average of low tides over 19 yrs.)
(average of higher of high water/day)
(defined on nautical charts)
Tidelands (beach)
MLW
MLLW
OLW
TIDE READINGS
TIDAL PHENOMENA
FACTORS• Attractive forces of the sun and moon on the rotating earth (principal force)
• Wind and weather
• Coastline makeup and seabed conditions
SPRING AND NEAP TIDES
• Most prominent tidal factor
• Spring: full moon
• Neap: first and last quarter moon
DISTANCE BETWEEN EARTH AND MOON
• As the moon moves closer to the earth, the tidal range increases
• Perigee: closest point to the earth
• Apogee: furthest point from the earth
WHAT IS A TIDAL DATUM?
•A datum is a base elevation used as a reference from which to reckon heights or depths
•A tidal datum is a standard elevation defined by a certain phase of the tide
NATIONAL TIDAL DATUM EPOCH (NTDE)
• A specific 19-year period is adopted by the national ocean service as the official time segment over which tide observations are taken and reduced to obtain mean values (e.g., mean lower low water, etc.) for tidal datums
• Current NTDE period is 1983 through 2001
• NTDE revision considered every 20-25 years
• Some regions are calculated on a modified 5-year epoch
TIDAL DATUMS
• NOAA publishes eleven datums
• Each datum is part of the National Tidal Datum Epoch
EVOLUTION OF DATUM AS BOUNDARY
• U.S. PRE-BORAX: NO STANDARD• Rome: No standard method for determining extent of private
seaward boundary, recognized slow vs. fast changes
• England: No standard method until Atty. General v. Chambers (1854) called for averaging tides over period of time
• U.S. up until early 20th century
• BORAX V. CITY OF LOS ANGELES• Recognized U.S.C.G.S. Special publication No. 135 to define mean
high tide and how it should be calculated
• POST-BORAX• Most states recognize methodology laid out by Borax; a few
don’t
PRE-BORAX
• Court rulings up until the mid 19th century did not attempt to define a physical boundary or exact location but to merely provide guidance
• Phrases such as “immediately on the rocky and sandy beach” or “upon which a heavy surf rims at ordinary high tide” or “sufficient for any class of vessels” were common
• Location indefiniteness was due to lack of practical need
BORAXHOW DO WE DETERMINE MEAN HIGH TIDE?
"Mean high water at any place is the average height of all the high waters at that place over a considerable period of time”
WHAT IS A “CONSIDERABLE PERIOD OF TIME?”
"From theoretical considerations of an astronomical character" there should be a "a periodic variation in the rise of water above sea level having a period of 18.6 years”
THE NATIONAL COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY RECOMMENDED 18.6 YEARS
"An average of 18.6 years should be determined as near as possible"
PARTING WORDSALTHOUGH SURVEYING WATER BOUNDARIES MAY SEEM COMPLEX, REMEMBER TO ASK YOURSELF THREE BASIC QUESTIONS:
• IS IT NAVIGABLE?
• IS IT A TIDAL WATER BODY?
• IS THIS A METES AND BOUNDS OR A PUBLIC LAND STATE?
• KEEP YOUR HEAD ABOVE WATER!!!
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