Avulsion
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia · John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
The removal of a considerable quantity of soil from the land of one man and its deposit upon or annexation to the land of another, suddenly and by the perceptible action of water.
2 Washb. R. P. 452.
In such case the property belongs to the first owner; Bract. 221; Hargr. Tract, de Jii/re Mar.; Schultes, Aq. Rights 115; Bouvier v. Stricklett, 40 Neb. 792, 59 N. W. 550. Avulsion by the Missouri river, the middle of whose channel forms the boundary line between the states of Missouri and Nebraska, works no change in such boundary, but leaves it in the centre line of the old channel; Missouri v. Nebraska, 196 U. S. 23, 25 Sup. Ct. 155, 49 L. Ed. 372; Nebraska v. Iowa, 143 U. S. 361, 12 Sup. Ct. 396, 36 L. Ed. 186. See Accretion; Alluvion; Riparian Proprietors; Reliction.