Owning a Watercourse: Rights, Responsibilities, and Resources

Owning a watercourse can be both a privilege and a responsibility. Whether you have a stream, brook, river, or any other type of watercourse running through or alongside your property, understanding your rights and obligations is crucial.

WHAT IS A WATERCOURSE?

A watercourse can be any stream of water flowing in a defined channel or through an underground pipe or culvert. It can be small or wide, natural, or artificial and includes channels that are dry for long periods of time and may not flow every year. A dry channel only filled during temporary flooding is not a watercourse.

DO YOU OWN A WATERCOURSE?

You normally own a stretch of watercourse:

• that runs on or under your land

• on the boundary of your land, up to its centre

Land ownership can be a complex topic, including whether you own a watercourse. It is sometimes unknown, disputed, or difficult to work out, even when looking at title deeds for a property.

As well as checking the deeds for your property or land these resources can help you find out if you own a watercourse:

• Check the Land Registry 

• Find out if you own a main river

GUIDANCE FOR RIPARIAN LANDOWNERS

The Environment Agency has guidance on Owning a Watercourse which will help you understand your responsibilities and rules to follow for watercourses on or near your property, and permissions you need to do work around them.

If you own or occupy land or property next to or containing a main river in England then the EA also has a new handy guide: Your watercourse: rights and roles.

Your watercourse rights and roles

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Download PDF • 1.05MB

You can also find out more about riparian ownership, for both main river and ordinary watercourses, on the Flood Hub’s Riparian Owner Toolkit website.

Owning a watercourse can come with many benefits, but it also comes with responsibilities that require active management and compliance with regulations. By understanding your rights and duties as a riparian owner, you can contribute to the sustainable management of water resources and mitigate flood risks.

For more information from the Environment Agency:

Call: 03708 506 506 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm)

Email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk 

Or visit: www.gov.uk/environment-agency