Recently I located a Witness to a corner in the thread of a non-nav. River. The Corner was on the eastern line of a federally condemned parcel. Would there be any reason for the corner not to move with erosion/accretion?
I think a little more information is called for. Is the river a boundary? How is it called for? What more do the deeds say, etc.?
Don
Yup. In Texas, whether or not the stream is navigable doesn't negate it's natural status.
> Recently I located a Witness to a corner in the thread of a non-nav. River. The Corner was on the eastern line of a federally condemned parcel. Would there be any reason for the corner not to move with erosion/accretion?
A witness to a corner in the thread......Well, if the corner is truly the thread of the river, that thread would be a constantly changing position. To me, the "witness" monument would be witnessing the line direction and the corner would truncate along that line at the thread. That would be my answer to the question as presented.
The description in the decree calls for the center of river. I was only questioning because of the condemnation. In a condemnation decree only the lands specifically listed are taken. And if only those lands specifically listed are taken, can they change over time?
A specific call to the thread without a metes and bounds call would cover any changes in the thread. Disclaimer: I could definitely be wrong.
Don
there is a course called for, NXXW, 34 ch to a point in the center of the river
1915 description
> The description in the decree calls for the center of river. I was only questioning because of the condemnation. In a condemnation decree only the lands specifically listed are taken. And if only those lands specifically listed are taken, can they change over time?
A call to a monument is a call to the "center" of the monument. Here, you've got a call to a "river" which is an ambulatory monument. When the river changes its course gradually over time, the boundary doesn't change; it still follows the river. As surveyors, we tend to think of a change in "location" as a change in the "boundary." That's not true. In the case of a river course, a change in the location doesn't mean that the boundary has changed. The parcel boundary is still the center of the river.
The condemnation action will take the property as it exists at the time. They took to the center of the river and that has not changed (the river is still the boundary). They still own to the center of the river.
Another way to look at it is that the condemnation action took a riparian parcel (one fronting on a river). As owners of a riparian parcel, they have all the rights associated, including the rights to the gain by accretion and loss by erosion.
JBS
> there is a course called for, NXXW, 34 ch to a point in the center of the river
> 1915 description
I agree with most others. JB Stahl probably worded it best. a call of NXXW, 34 ch to a point in the center of the river, would hold the river as a senior call over a distance. It is a "natural monumnet" which would be senior to a distance call. The "witness corner" as I said before, could be a monument that helps you hold the direction of the line (NXXW would be a call that is junior or subject to the witness monument). Hold the monument for line, and go to the river wherever it is at the time you are locating it.