Air, surface, subsurface, and water rights

A parcel contains separable rights

Surface rights concern ground-level use; air rights concern space above; subsurface rights include minerals below; and water rights concern legally permitted access to and use of water. Different owners can hold different interests. Governing documents and applicable law determine their scope, so verify them before promising a use.

A cross section separates air above land, ground-level surface use, and subsurface minerals. Groundwater lies below ground, while a neighboring water panel represents legally permitted access to and use of surface water and groundwater. Different interests can have different owners. — Physical layers do not necessarily share one owner.

Air, surface, and minerals

Surface ownership supports uses such as occupying a home or farming, subject to zoning, easements, and other restrictions. Air rights may be conveyed or leased separately for development above property. They do not override height restrictions or give unrestricted control of ordinary flights in navigable airspace.

Mineral rights can be severed from surface ownership. A seller who owns both can convey the surface while reserving minerals. A later surface buyer does not thereby acquire those reserved minerals. A royalty interest generally concerns a share of production or proceeds; it is not the same as full mineral ownership. Investigate mineral access rights that may affect the surface.

Water location and allocation

Riparian rights traditionally concern land beside rivers or streams; littoral rights concern land beside lakes, seas, or oceans. Neither term means ownership of the entire water body or unrestricted exclusion of the public from navigable waters.

Under reasonable use, a riparian owner's use must account for other riparian owners. Prior appropriation prioritizes established rights to beneficial use: first in time, first in right. Priority is not determined by the oldest adjoining deed. Groundwater lies below the surface; surface water lies above it. These physical categories are distinct from allocation doctrines.

Changes at the water's edge

Accretion adds land gradually through deposits. Erosion gradually wears land away. Reliction exposes land as water gradually recedes. Avulsion is sudden change, such as an abrupt river shift. Gradual changes can shift a water boundary; avulsion generally leaves the legal boundary in its former location. Identify the process before deciding its effect.