Rights and responsibilities of living by a watercourse
If you own a property adjacent to a river, stream, brook, drainage ditch, culvert (piped watercourse) or any other form of watercourse, the below guidance helps to explain your rights and responsibilities.
Riparian owner
Under common law if you have a watercourse within or adjacent to the boundaries of your property, then you are a riparian owner. Where a watercourse is between two or more property boundaries, each owner may be equally responsible. Please see example 1 diagram below, which demonstrates that even if the Title Deeds for owner A’s property show the boundary to be the fence, they have riparian rights and responsibilities to the centre of the watercourse. Other scenarios can be seen in example diagrams 1 to 5. Descriptive text under each image has been provided for those with visual impairments and that use a screen reader.
Riparian owner rights
You have the right to protect your property against flooding from the watercourse and to prevent erosion of the watercourse banks or any structures.
Riparian owner responsibilities
Your responsibilities are to maintain the bank and bed of your section of watercourse or culverted section to avoid any obstruction of flow in the watercourse.
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Example image 1: shows how responsibility for a watercourse is divided when it is located between two land titles and within land that is unclaimed or who’s ownership is unknown. In this instance, each of the riparian owners is responsible for the watercourse up to it’s centre line on their side.
Common problems that affect watercourses are:
- failing to keep vegetation growth under control
- failing to obtain consent for culverting (piping) of watercourses or undertaking other modifications.
- disposal or storage of garden, domestic rubbish and waste, on the banks of watercourses
- failing to remove excess silt
Watercourse
A watercourse is any channel through which water flows and can be open or enclosed underground as a culvert/tunnel.
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Example image 2: shows who is responsible for a watercourse when it is located wholly within land of a single title of ownership. In this instance, the watercourse is the responsibility of the owner of the land title in which it lies.
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Example image 3: shows who is responsible for a watercourse when it is entirely contained within a separate land title from the adjacent land owned to each side. In this instance, the watercourse is the responsibility of the owner of the land title in which it lies having responsibility.
Main Rivers
Main rivers are larger streams or rivers that include smaller watercourses of strategic drainage importance. A main river is defined as a watercourse shown as such on a main river map and can include any structure or appliance for controlling or regulating the flow of water in to or out of a main river. The Environment Agency’s powers to carry out flood defence works apply to main rivers only. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) designates main rivers.
Ordinary Watercourses
An ordinary watercourse is every river, stream, ditch, drain, cut, dyke, sluice, sewer (other than a public sewer) and passage which water flows through but does not form part of a main river.
Roadside Ditches
The riparian owner of any ditches alongside a road is normally the adjoining landowner, this is because the highway boundary always lies along the top of the bank closest to the road. Adjacent owners should not carry out any work on the ditch, (other than regular maintenance), as it could interfere with its proper operation or restrict road surface water draining into it. However, the highway authority (which for Arun District is West Sussex County Council) does have the right to discharge rainwater from the highway into these ditches under current legislation and the landowner is responsible for maintaining it. If West Sussex County Council have created or piped the ditch under their highway powers, they become responsible for its maintenance. Likewise, any pipe beneath the highway is their responsibility. When the condition of a ditch is causing flooding on a highway it will also be the County Council that may take action under the Land Drainage Act.
Riparian owner and the law
A riparian owner must not construct any structure or works in, under or over a watercourse without consulting us first and obtaining Land Drainage Consent where necessary. This is because works such as bridging, culverting, diverting, infilling, installing trash screens or creating a pond, etc, is likely to affect the water flow. This applies to ‘ordinary’ watercourses. Watercourses designated ‘main river’ fall under the remit of the Environment Agency’.
Click on image to enlarge
Example image 4: shows how responsibility for a watercourse is divided when it is located on the boundary of two land titles, in some cases outside of a physical boundary. In this instance, each of the riparian owners is responsible for the watercourse up to it’s centre line on their side.
Legislation
Your responsibilities as a riparian owner are based on the following legislation:
- The Public Health Act 1936
- The Land Drainage Acts of 1991 & 1994
- Water Resources Act 1991
- Arun District Council Land Drainage Byelaws 2004
- Flood & Water Management Act 2010
Implementation of legislation
To reduce the risk of flooding we aim to improve and maintain an effective watercourse system by ensuring we give advice, assistance and work cooperatively with riparian owners. Enforcement of legislation will only be used where necessary to resolve problems. Changes to watercourses which result in increase or decrease in flow, diversion of flow, blockage of flow or other alterations which damage adjoining land, or the owners’ rights, could result in private legal actions and claims for damages.
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Example image 5: shows how responsibility for a watercourse is divided when it is located in land that is unclaimed or who’s ownership is unknown and between a private landowner and the public highway. In this instance, the private/riparian landowner is responsible for the full width of the watercourse to the far bank.