If you've ever watched a river during a major storm or flood, you probably have seen a bit of avulsion. Avulsion is a sudden and perceptible change in the land brought about by water. Avulsion may result in the addition or removal of land from a bank or shoreline. Let's look at an example.
Anne owns a parcel of land along a bank of a river, and a violent storm washes away Anne's bank and deposits much of the soil a mile downstream onto Tim's riverbank. The sudden and perceptible removal of Anne's soil onto Tim's riverbank is an incidence of avulsion. The law generally provides that soil removed by avulsion remains the property of the original owner. Of course, Anne would have to go through the time and expense of reclaiming the soil.
Sometimes avulsion results in a relatively permanent change in the course of a river or stream. This may become important if the river or stream demarcates the boundary between two property owners. Let's look at another example.
Let's say that Jack owns property on the west side of the stream, and Jill owns the property directly across Jack on the east side of the stream. The stream acts as the boundary between Jack and Jill's properties. Now let's say that violent storms and flooding have shifted the stream two feet to the east. If the stream were the boundary, it would appear that Jack has gained some land and Jill has lost some. Fortunately for Jill, the law generally holds that she retains the property she owned before since the shift in the course of the stream was due to avulsion.
Let's summarize the differences between accretion and avulsion. Accretion occurs slowly and is imperceptible, while avulsion happens rapidly and perceptibly. The property owner gains ownership of land added to his shore or bank through accretion. However, an owner that loses land to avulsion generally has a right to reclaim it. A shift in a watercourse that serves as a boundary between two parcels of land does not generally change the legal boundary of the parcels if the shift is a result of avulsion. However, it's always important to check your specific state law regarding all of these issues.
