Stratbucker v. Junge
46 N.W.2d 486, 153 Neb. 885, 1951 Neb. LEXIS 40 (1951)
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Rule of Law:
For a landowner to possess riparian rights, including the right to claim land formed by accretion or reliction, the landowner's property must be in actual physical contact with the water. Mere proximity to a body of water, without direct contact, is insufficient to establish riparian status.
Facts:
- Herman Junge's father acquired a parcel of land in 1914 described as partly bordered by the Missouri River.
- By the time Herman Junge inherited the land in 1917, and over the subsequent years, the Missouri River had eroded most of the original parcel, leaving only about one acre.
- By 1925, the river's channel had moved to be adjacent to a levee constructed on a right-of-way owned by the East Omaha Drainage District.
- In 1944, Stratbucker purchased a parcel of land located south of Junge's original property.
- Stratbucker's property was separated from the Missouri River's edge by the Drainage District's right-of-way and the levee constructed upon it; his land never had direct contact with the water.
- After government river work began around 1934, the river shifted northward, and by 1943, approximately 60 to 70 acres of new land had gradually formed between the levee and the river's new south bank.
- Stratbucker claimed title to this newly formed land, asserting it was an accretion to his property.
Procedural Posture:
- Stratbucker filed an action against Junge in the district court for Douglas County, Nebraska (trial court) to quiet title to the disputed land.
- The trial court found generally for Junge, concluding the land was formed by avulsion, not accretion, and dismissed Stratbucker's action.
- The trial court denied Stratbucker's motion for a new trial.
- Stratbucker (appellant) appealed the judgment of dismissal to the Supreme Court of Nebraska.
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Issue:
Does a landowner whose property is near, but not in actual contact with, a river have a right to claim title to new land formed by accretion on the river's bank?
Opinions:
Majority - Boslaugh, J.
No. A landowner cannot claim title to new land formed by accretion unless their property is riparian, which requires actual physical contact with the body of water. The indispensable requisite of the riparian doctrine is the direct contact of land and water. Stratbucker's claim fails because his land was never riparian; it was separated from the Missouri River by the East Omaha Drainage District's right-of-way and levee. The evidence, and indeed Stratbucker's own legal filings, confirm that his property's northern boundary was the drainage district's right-of-way, not the river itself. Since proximity without contact is insufficient to establish riparian rights, Stratbucker has no legal basis to claim the accreted land.
Analysis:
This decision reaffirms the strict requirement of actual contact for establishing riparian rights, preventing a non-riparian landowner from 'leapfrogging' over an intervening parcel to claim valuable accreted land. It solidifies the principle that the benefits of accretion are reserved exclusively for landowners who bear the corresponding risk of erosion from direct contact with the water. The case serves as a clear precedent that courts will not expand the definition of 'riparian' to include lands merely proximate to water, thereby maintaining a bright-line rule in property and water law.
