Legal Perspectives on Channel Migration of Wandering Gravel-Bed Rivers in Southern Alberta
Date
2013-05-01
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Abstract
Property boundaries in Alberta that are defined by rivers are subject to the doctrine of accretion. A review of the history and development of this doctrine reveals that it accommodates all types of river channel change, including episodic movement, and that it is the overall progress of the change rather than the moment to moment process that should be considered when addressing whether an event is accretionary or avulsive. A behavioural model developed here for wandering gravel-bed rivers in southern Alberta indicates that change to these rivers is largely episodic and is mainly due to non-overbank peak seasonal flows rather than floods, but that rapid change can occur in response to certain events. Application of the behavioural model and the interpretation of the doctrine of accretion developed here to the 2000 Robertson v Wallace court case supports the judge’s rulings in all three disputed reaches.
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Keywords
Law, Geology, Physical Geography
Citation
Campbell, E. (2013). Legal Perspectives on Channel Migration of Wandering Gravel-Bed Rivers in Southern Alberta (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26747