The gradual addition of land by natural deposit of soil along a waterway
Silt building up slowly along a riverbank adds to the owner’s land, and the new soil is called alluvion. The mirror process, erosion, gradually takes land away. Both change boundaries over time without any conveyance.
How the exam asks about it
Distinguish avulsion — a sudden, violent change such as a river abruptly shifting course. Avulsion generally does not change the boundary, precisely because it was not gradual.
The soil deposited on a bank by the gradual action of water
Alluvion is the material; accretion is the process that puts it there. The deposit belongs to the owner of the land it attaches to, which is how a riverside parcel quietly grows without anyone conveying anything.
How the exam asks about it
Items use "alluvium" and "alluvion" interchangeably and expect the word to be connected to accretion rather than to erosion.
Water rights belonging to land bordering a lake, sea or ocean
The owner has the right to use and enjoy the water, with ownership of the land generally running to the mean high-water mark. Beyond that line the bed is typically held by the state in trust for the public.
How the exam asks about it
The mnemonic most people settle on is that "littoral" and "lake" both start with L.
A water rights system allocating use by priority of claim rather than by land ownership
Used across much of the arid western United States. The right belongs to whoever first put the water to a recognized beneficial use and continues to do so, regardless of whether their land touches the water. It is often summarized as "first in time, first in right".
How the exam asks about it
The contrast with riparian rights is the examinable point: riparian rights attach to the land, appropriative rights attach to the use.
The water withdraws and the land it leaves belongs to the owner whose property it adjoins. Like accretion the process is gradual, and the gradualness is what makes it an addition to the parcel rather than a boundary dispute.
Easily confused with
Avulsion is the sudden version — a flood or a channel shifting in a single event — and it does not move boundaries the way the gradual processes do.
How the exam asks about it
Grouped with accretion, alluvion, erosion and avulsion. Reliction is water leaving; accretion is soil arriving.
Water rights belonging to land bordering a flowing watercourse
The owner of land along a river or stream has rights to reasonable use of the water. Where the watercourse is non-navigable, ownership commonly runs to the middle of the channel; where it is navigable, ownership typically stops at the water’s edge.
How the exam asks about it
Paired with littoral rights every time. Riparian is the running water — river, stream; littoral is the standing water — lake, sea, ocean.
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