high-watermark

As applied to tidal waters:-the line marked by the periodical flow of the tide, excluding the advance of the water above the line, occasioned by wind, storm, or other unusual condition; usually construed to indicate the "ordinary" high water-that is, the line of the medium high tide between the spring and the neap tide. 12 Am J2d Bound § 13. As applied to fresh water lakes and streams:-the mark where the presence and action of the water are so common and usual as to mark upon the soil of the bed a character distinct from that of the banks in respect to vegetation as well as to the nature of the soil itself. Re Minnetonka Lake Improv. 56 Minn 513, 58 NW 295. The line to which the water rises in the seasons of ordinary high water; the line at which the presence of water is continued for such length of time as to mark upon the soil and vegetation a distinct character. 56 Am J1st Wat § 448. Bounding a grant on a pond does not per se extend title to the center if the boundary of the tract is indicated by an old and definite line following the high watermark. Jennings v Marston, 121 Va 79, 92 SE 821, 7 ALR 855. See ordinary high-watermark.