Download As Text Legal Tennessee Environmental Law Forms For Free

But in fact, the state claims ownership of all waters of Tennessee in the "public trust," including the groundwater, unless the water body is isolated and confined to a single private property.

Navigable streams cannot be owned privately. Navigable streams natural and primary uses by the public are for navigation, commerce, hunting and fishing. In addition to the right of navigation of streams, the public has the right of ownership of lands under the waters, as these lands cannot be owned privately.

The Tennessee Water Quality Control Act of 1977 defines waters of the state as ?any and all water, public or private, on or beneath the surface of the ground, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon Tennessee or any portion thereof except those bodies of water confined to and retained within the limits ...

As in every major American river system, development is a major pollution issue in the Tennessee River watershed. New, uncontrolled development releases sediment and silt into the river and its tributaries, reducing the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water.

Drainage law in Tennessee is governed by the natural flow rule. The natural flow rule says water has a natural easement along its natural paths, and the upper and lower landowners must accept water that naturally flows, or that would have naturally flowed, onto the property in question.

Tennessee is considered a riparian law state. The doctrine of riparian water rights means landowners who border a waterway have equal rights to use the water passing through or by their property. This doctrine mainly applies to surface waters, however groundwater rights are a type of riparian right with modifications.