subject to the Code provision which reserves some uses of the exposed bonk to the 

 public. 



Ownership of newly formed islands and sandbars is controlled by Article 505. If an 

 island or sandbar arises in the channel of a navigable river, ownership goes to the State. 

 If a sandbar does not arise independently in the channel, but rather grows out from the 

 shore, it is treated as an accretion and ownership goes to the riparian.-^-' Litigation over 

 the ownership of sandbars invariably turns on which side can prove how the sandbar was 

 created.-^^ 



If erosive forces cause a sudden, or avulsive change, the legal implications are 

 quite different from those of imperceptible changes. The general rule with avulsive 

 changes, as directed by the Civil Code, is that the State will exchange ownership of the 

 old bed for ownership of the new bed.-^' If a river suddenly changes course, abandoning 

 its original bed and inundating the land of a former riparian, the State takes ownership of 

 the new bed and the landowner (who now has a river running iicross his former riparian 

 estate) takes the original bed. In Fitzsimmons v. Cassity , the Louisiana Court of 

 Appeal expressed the rule this way: 



" When a river changes its course and for this purpose appropriates 

 private property for its new bed, the lawmaker, out of a spirit of 

 justice and fairness, has wisely ordained, in effect, that the owner of 

 the appropriated land shall be compensated for his loss by becoming 

 owner of the abandoned bed." " 



The court makes it clear that even though the old channel may still be navigable, the bed 

 nonetheless goes into private ownership.^*^ The Code provides, however, that if the river 

 ever resumes its original channel, all parties shall retake their former lands. 



If an avulsive action of a river cuts off riparian land and creates an island, the Civil 

 Code provides that the ownership of the island does not change.^^ This provision works 

 in conjunction with Article 504 which provides for the exchange of bed ownership when a 

 river changes course to insure predictable legal consequences in the wake of an avulsive 

 change. 



Seashore Erosion 



The legal effects of erosion along the seashore are similar to those of erosion along 

 a lakeshore except that navigability is of little importance. The Submerged Lands Act 

 granted Louisiana paramount rights to the seabed from the mean ordinary low tide line 

 seaward to the three-mile territorial limit. Civil Code Article 450, in addition to 

 recognizing ownership of the territorial seabed, grants the State ownership of the 

 seashore. 



Seashore is defined in the Code as "the space of land pver which the waters of the 

 sea spread in the highest tide during the winter season."^^ This definition has been 

 interpreted to require more than mere tidal influence to demonstrate that waters are 

 actually part of the sea. In thus way, the courts have limited "seashore" to the actual 

 coast and "arms of the sea". -^ Working with this definition and the guidance of the 

 Code, Louisiana courts have held that ownership of any seashore that erodes to become 

 sea bottom is transferred to the State. "Moreover, any accretions along the seashore 

 are property of the State. ^' The littoral^" landowner is placed in a "no win" situation 



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