Ordinary High Water Mark

45 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Martin v. Clarence M. Busch for Clarence M. Busch
  93 Fla. 535· Fla.· 1927-03-15 ·cited 168×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a lower court decree awarding complainants land below the ordinary high water mark of Lake Okeechobee. The court held that lands below the ordinary high water mark of a navigable lake are sovereignty lands belonging to the State, not swamp and o
• Broward v. Elbert N. Mabry
  58 Fla. 398· Fla.· 1909-06-01 ·cited 106×
  This case concerns the ownership of submerged lands under Lake Jackson in Florida. The court held that Lake Jackson is navigable for public purposes, and therefore its bed is held by the State in trust for the people, not by private owners. The court reversed the lower court's de
• State v. Falls Chase Special Taxing Dist.
  424 So. 2d 787· Fla. 1st DCA· 1982-07-23 ·cited 72×
  The Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (DER) appealed a circuit court judgment granting Falls Chase's motion for judgment on the pleadings in a dispute over DER's jurisdictional authority to regulate dredge and fill activities. The court held that DER lacked jurisdict
• Coastal Petroleum Co. v. Am. Cyanamid Co.
  492 So. 2d 339· Fla.· 1986-05-15 ·cited 56×
  The Florida Supreme Court resolved consolidated cases concerning whether 1883 swamp and overflowed lands deeds conveyed sovereignty lands beneath navigable rivers, and whether estoppel or the Marketable Record Title Act divested the state of such lands. The Court held that sovere
• Miller v. Bay-to-Gulf, Inc.
  141 Fla. 452· Fla.· 1940-01-26 ·cited 46×
  The Millers challenged a trial court decision denying them title to a narrow strip of beachfront land on Maderia Island, Florida, and enjoining them from maintaining a bulkhead on it. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Millers' deed did not include the disputed
• Kendry v. State Rd. Dep't of Fla.
  213 So. 2d 23· Fla. 4th DCA· 1968-07-31 ·cited 45×
  Property owners challenged a dismissal of their complaint alleging that the State Road Department took their property by violating easement restrictions, causing flooding damage, and filling riparian lands. The court reversed, holding that the complaint stated valid causes of act
• Bd. of Trs. of the Internal Improvement Tr. Fund v. Sand KEY Assocs., Ltd.
  512 So. 2d 934· Fla.· 1987-07-09 ·cited 33×
  The Florida Supreme Court holds that waterfront owners are entitled to accretions (gradual land accumulation) caused by artificial improvements constructed by others, but not to accretions they themselves caused. The Court affirmed the district court's reversal of summary judgmen
• State of Fla. & Bd. of Trs. of the Internal Improvement Tr. Fund v. Fla. Nat'l Props., Inc.
  338 So. 2d 13· Fla.· 1976-07-14 ·cited 25×
  Florida's Supreme Court held that Section 253.151, Florida Statutes, which attempted to fix permanent boundary lines between state sovereignty lands and riparian private property at historical water levels, is unconstitutional in its entirety. The court affirmed that the true bou
• Lopez v. Duval M. Smith and May P. Smith
  145 So. 2d 509· Fla. 2d DCA· 1962-09-21 ·cited 25×
  This case involves competing claims to island property in the Little Manatee River in Florida. The court affirmed the trial court's determination that the appellants (Lopez, Miller, and three corporations) did not own the contested islands because the true boundaries of their gov
• Puyallup Indian Tribe v. Port OF Tacoma
  717 F.2d 1251· 9th Cir.· 1983-08-15 ·cited 24×
  The court held that the 1857 Executive Order conveyed title to the riverbed to the Puyallup Tribe and that the 1948-50 river rechannelization was an avulsive change, leaving title with the Tribe.
• McDOWELL v. Trs. OF The Internal Improvement Fund OF The State OF Fla.
  90 So. 2d 715· Fla.· 1956-11-14 ·cited 24×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed an injunction against property owners from dredging Lake Ariana, a navigable, meandered lake whose bottom is owned by the State in trust for public use. The court reversed in part to require the lower court to determine the extent of sovereignty
• Tilden v. Smith
  94 Fla. 502· Fla.· 1927-08-01 ·cited 22×
  Riparian owners of property abutting Lake Johns sought an injunction to prevent a neighboring property owner from drilling a deep well to drain excess floodwaters that had risen abnormally due to heavy rainfall. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of the injunction, hol
• State v. Contemporary Land Sales, Inc.
  400 So. 2d 488· Fla. 5th DCA· 1981-05-20 ·cited 21×
  The Florida Department of Natural Resources appealed a summary judgment quieting Contemporary Land Sales' title to land exposed by artificial lowering of Lake Louisa's water level. The court held that the Marketable Record Title Act, as it existed before 1978, extinguished the St
• Barnes v. The United States
  538 F.2d 865· Ct. Cl.· 1976-07-09 ·cited 19×
  The court held that the government's operation of dams caused inevitable, recurring flooding above ordinary high-water marks, constituting a taking of a flowage easement and crop interests, and that the date of taking was November 30, 1973.
• Layne L. Lightsey v. The Honorable Volie A. Williams, Jr.
  526 So. 2d 764· Fla. 5th DCA· 1988-06-10 ·cited 17×
  Property owners bordering Lake Kissimmee sought prohibition or certiorari relief against a circuit judge's denial of their motion to abate or stay trespass actions filed against them in Osceola County, arguing that identical or substantially similar actions were already pending i
• Borough OF Ford City v. United States
  345 F.2d 645· 3d Cir.· 1965-04-28 ·cited 16×
  The court held that the trial court erred in its determination of the ordinary high-water mark by applying an incorrect legal standard, and therefore, the government was not liable for damages to the plaintiff's sewer system.
• Goose Creek Hunting Club, Inc. v. The United States
  518 F.2d 579· Ct. Cl.· 1975-06-25 ·cited 15×
  The government is liable for damages caused by permanently flooding private property outside the bed of a navigable stream, even if the flooding results from improvements made to the navigable stream for navigation purposes.
• Franklin v. United States
  101 F.2d 459· 6th Cir.· 1939-01-20 ·cited 15×
  The court held that the allegations in the appellants' petitions, if true, stated a good cause of action for an unlawful taking of property under the Fifth Amendment. The lower court erred in sustaining the demurrers, and the judgment should be reversed.
• Fla. Wildlife Fed'n, Inc. v. Bd. OF Trs. OF the Internal Improvement
  707 So. 2d 841· Fla. 5th DCA· 1998-02-27 ·cited 14×
  Florida Wildlife Federation and Save Our St. Johns River sought to intervene in a lawsuit by the Board of Trustees asserting ownership of approximately 250 acres of land fronting Lake Poinsett. The trial court denied their motion to intervene, and the Fifth District Court of Appe
• The United States & the Crow Tribe of Indians v. The State OF Mont.
  604 F.2d 1162· 9th Cir.· 1979-06-12 ·cited 14×
  The court held that federal common law, not state law, should determine the upper limit of title to the bed and banks of the Big Horn River, maintaining the ordinary high-water mark.
• Lopez v. Duval M. Smith
  109 So. 2d 176· Fla. 2d DCA· 1959-02-20 ·cited 14×
  This case involves a dispute over the boundary lines of government lots and whether certain islands fall within the appellants' property. The appellants sought to quiet title to islands they claimed were within their fractional government lots, but the trial court dismissed the c
• Padgett v. Cent. & S. Fla. Flood Control Dist.
  178 So. 2d 900· Fla. 2d DCA· 1965-10-07 ·cited 10×
  The Flood Control District built a levee on state-owned lands between the Padgetts' property and Lake Okeechobee, and sought a declaratory judgment that this did not constitute a taking of the Padgetts' property rights. The court affirmed that the District's construction was auth
• Feller v. EAU Gallie Yacht Basin, Inc.
  397 So. 2d 1155· Fla. 5th DCA· 1981-04-01 ·cited 8×
  A complaint alleging conclusions of law or evidentiary facts, rather than ultimate facts, should not be dismissed for failure to state a cause of action.
• Kruse v. Grokap, Inc.
  349 So. 2d 788· Fla. 2d DCA· 1977-09-02 ·cited 8×
  This case addresses the application of the submergence doctrine in Florida property law, specifically whether land lost to tidal waters and later re-emerged becomes the property of a neighboring riparian owner through accretion. The court reversed the trial court's judgment, hold
• ST. Jude Harbors, Inc. v. Keegan
  295 So. 2d 141· Fla. 2d DCA· 1974-01-30 ·cited 8×
  The court reviewed a mortgage foreclosure action concerning land sales where the acreage was calculated to the mangrove line, not the mean high tide line, and a portion of the land was owned by the state.
• United States v. 21.54 Acres OF Land
  491 F.2d 301· 4th Cir.· 1973-07-13 ·cited 8×
  The trial court erred by refusing to determine the factual location of the ordinary high water mark, as this determination is necessary to accurately describe the condemned land and does not interfere with the executive's discretionary power to determine the extent of the taking.
• United States v. Claridge
  416 F.2d 933· 9th Cir.· 1969-09-19 ·cited 8×
  The court held that the construction of Hoover Dam did not cause avulsive changes to the river's course, and therefore, the accretion doctrine applies, with title passing to the United States.
• The United States & The United States Corps of Eng'rs v. C.E. Harrell, Jr.
  926 F.2d 1036· 11th Cir.· 1991-03-15 ·cited 7×
  The court held that Lewis Creek is not a navigable waterway of the United States, nor is it subject to the navigational servitude of the Tombigbee River, and therefore, the public has no right of access under Alabama law.
• United States v. State OF Wash.
  294 F.2d 830· 9th Cir.· 1961-09-01 ·cited 6×
• Tri-State Materials Corp. v. The United States
  550 F.2d 1· Ct. Cl.· 1977-02-23 ·cited 4×
  If the Government builds a dam that permanently raises the water table of land outside the riverbed, causing economic loss to the landowner, it constitutes a compensable Fifth Amendment taking, regardless of whether the flooding is characterized as subflooding or blocked drainage
• Coastal Petroleum Co. v. The United States
  524 F.2d 1206· Ct. Cl.· 1975-10-22 ·cited 4×
  The United States may use submerged limestone from navigable waters for a levee project without compensating the leaseholder, due to the navigation servitude.
• Wanda and Eric Teat v. City OF Apalachicola
  738 So. 2d 413· Fla. 1st DCA· 1999-06-30 ·cited 3×
  The court held that property bounded by the shore of a navigable waterway extends to the ordinary high water mark, granting riparian rights. Therefore, the trial court erred in finding the appellants did not possess such rights.
• Save OUR Beaches, Inc. v. Fla. Dep't OF Env't Prot.
  Fla. 1st DCA· 2006-04-28 ·cited 2×
  Stop the Beach Renourishment challenged a permit for beach renourishment in Destin and Walton County on constitutional grounds, arguing that the project unconstitutionally deprived riparian property owners of their riparian rights without just compensation. The court agreed, find
• 101 Ranch v. United States
  905 F.2d 180· 8th Cir.· 1990-05-30 ·cited 2×
  A 1929 judgment and 1949 deed did not grant plaintiff ownership of submerged lakebed, as such ownership contradicts public trust principles and the doctrines of reliction and submergence.
• The Bd. OF Trs. OF the Internal Improvement Tr. Fund of the State of Fla. v. Agrico Chem. Co.
  462 So. 2d 829· Fla. 2d DCA· 1984-09-14 ·cited 2×
• Geise v. Fleck
  Fla. 6th DCA· 2026-04-02
  Riparian-rights disputes involving sovereign submerged land underlying a navigable lake are governed by the test of whether one riparian owner's use unreasonably interferes with another's riparian rights, not the equitable distribution test from Hayes v. Bowman, which applies onl
• Skipper v. Phipps
  483 F. Supp. 1213· N.D. Fla.· 1980-01-24
  The court held that no constitutional rights were violated because the plaintiffs were not arrested and had no federal right to use the disputed land, thus summary judgment for the defendants was appropriate.
• Fla. First Nat'l Bank at Key W. v. Trs. of the Internal Improvement Fund
  36 Fla. Supp. 42· Monroe Cty. Cir. Ct.· 1971-07-23
  A trial court determined the boundary line between privately-owned government lots and state sovereignty lands in the Florida Keys. The court held that the original 1873 U.S. survey meander line, rather than the mean high water line, controls the boundary because the natural monu
• State ex rel. Marsh v. Simberg
  4 Fla. Supp. 85· Dade Cty. Cir. Ct.· 1953-07-31
  The State of Florida, on behalf of county and municipal officials, challenged Miami Beach ordinances that permitted riparian owners to construct bulkheads and fill the foreshore (land between high and low tide marks) in the Atlantic Ocean. The court held that the state holds the
• Ocean Navigation Co. v. Town of Palm Beach
  114 Fla. 48· Fla.· 1934-02-21
  Ocean Navigation Co. appeals from an order denying their motion to dismiss a bill of complaint by the Town of Palm Beach seeking to establish a dedication to public use of a strip of ocean-front land in Villa Marine. The court affirms the denial, holding that while the complaint'