Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 253.141 (2025)

Riparian rights defined; certain submerged bottoms subject to private ownership.

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253.141 Riparian rights defined; certain submerged bottoms subject to private ownership.—

(1) Riparian rights are those incident to land bordering upon navigable waters. They are rights of ingress, egress, boating, bathing, and fishing and such others as may be or have been defined by law. Such rights are not of a proprietary nature. They are rights inuring to the owner of the riparian land but are not owned by him or her. They are appurtenant to and are inseparable from the riparian land. The land to which the owner holds title must extend to the ordinary high watermark of the navigable water in order that riparian rights may attach. Conveyance of title to or lease of the riparian land entitles the grantee to the riparian rights running therewith whether or not mentioned in the deed or lease of the upland.

(2) Navigable waters in this state shall not be held to extend to any permanent or transient waters in the form of so-called lakes, ponds, swamps or overflowed lands, lying over and upon areas which have heretofore been conveyed to private individuals by the United States or by the state without reservation of public rights in and to said waters.

(3) The submerged lands of any nonmeandered lake shall be deemed subject to private ownership where the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of Florida conveyed the same more than 50 years ago without any deductions for water and without any reservation for public use and when taxes have been levied and collected on said submerged lands since conveyance by the state.

(4) Where private ownership of submerged bottoms outward from the shore has originated in a Spanish or other land grant approved by the Congress specifically describing an area in which was included navigable water, or by patent out of the United States prior to the date on which Florida became a state likewise containing a description including navigable water, or upon a valid conveyance out of the state, the submerged land included in such grant, patent, or conveyance shall be subject to taxes lawfully imposed.

History.—ss. 1, 2, ch. 28262, 1953; s. 2, ch. 61-119; s. 31, ch. 82-226; s. 200, ch. 85-342; s. 140, ch. 95-148.

Note.—Former ss. 192.61(1)-(4), 271.09, 197.315(3), 197.228.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 12 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1988–2026 · leading case: Walton Cnty. v. Stop Beach Renourishment, 998 So. 2d 1102 (Fla. 2008).

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Walton Cnty. v. Stop Beach Renourishment, 998 So. 2d 1102 (Fla. 2008). · cites it 18× “Today, the majority has returned to a "hopelessly illogical hypothesis" without even an attempt to advance some rational analysis that conforms to the Florida Constitution, our common law, and section 253.141, Florida Statutes. Following Belvedere only a short two years later,…”

Save Our Beaches, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Env't Prot., 27 So. 3d 48 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006). · cites it 11× “(a) None of the provisions of this rule shall be implemented in a manner that would unreasonably infringe upon the traditional, common law riparian rights, as defined in Section 253.141, F.S., of upland property owners adjacent to sovereignty submerged lands.”

Haynes v. Carbonell, 532 So. 2d 746 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). · cites it 2× “§ 253.141, Fla. Stat. (1985). The 1953 conveyance to Strand Corporation expressly included riparian rights, or to be more correct, littoral rights in the adjoining shores of the Gulf of Mexico.”

Tewksbury v. City of Deerfield Beach, 763 So. 2d 1071 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). · cites it 2× “1985); see also § 253.141(1), Fla. Stat. (1997)("Riparian rights are those incident to land bordering upon navigable waters.”

Reynolds v. Cnty. of Volusia, 659 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). · cites it 2× “[5] In order to have littoral rights, the lot owners had to establish that they were owners of the uplands bounded by the Atlantic Ocean.”

Whetstone v. City of St. Augustine, 186 So. 3d 34 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016). · cites it 2× “” § 253.141(1), Fla. Stat. (2012). The court observed that the Whetstones’ 1965 deed did not extend to Matan-zas Bay and therefore precluded their assertion of riparian rights.”

Bradley Geise & Sarah Geise v. Peter Fleck Kari Fleck (Fla. 6th DCA 2026). · cites it 7× “”); § 253.141(1), Fla. Stat. (“Riparian rights are those incident to land bordering upon navigable waters.”

Secret Oaks Owner's Ass'n v. DEP, 704 So. 2d 702 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). · cites it 3× “They are rights of ingress, egress, boating, bathing, and fishing and such others as may be or have been defined by law.”

Colgan v. Shadow Point (Fla. 3d DCA 2018). · cites it 2× “§ 253.141(1), Fla. Stat. (2012) (emphasis added); Teat v.”

Florida Dep't of Transp. v. Lauderdale Boat Yard, LLC (Fla. 4th DCA 2022). · cites it 2× “See § 253.141, Fla. Stat. (2019) (riparian rights “are appurtenant to and are inseparable from the riparian land”).”

Taylor v. Nw. Florida Water Mgmt. Dist., 32 Fla. Supp. 2d 41 (Fla. Cir. Ct. 1988). · cites it 2× “Florida Statute Section 253.141(1). Riparian rights of access attach to property owners “who owned land extending to (the) ordinary high-water mark of navigable waters.”

City of Tallahassee v. J.R., 771 So. 2d 587 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000). · cites it 2× “The City’s reliance on the definition of “riparian rights” found in section 253.141, Florida Statutes (1999), is also misplaced, for that chapter relates to State-owned lands and the definition is restricted to “land bordering upon navigable waters.”

— 253.141(1) — 8 cases

Walton Cnty. v. Stop Beach Renourishment, 998 So. 2d 1102 (Fla. 2008). “Today, the majority has returned to a "hopelessly illogical hypothesis" without even an attempt to advance some rational analysis that conforms to the Florida Constitution, our common law, and section 253.141, Florida Statutes. Following Belvedere only a short two years later,…”

Save Our Beaches, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Env't Prot., 27 So. 3d 48 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006). “(a) None of the provisions of this rule shall be implemented in a manner that would unreasonably infringe upon the traditional, common law riparian rights, as defined in Section 253.141, F.S., of upland property owners adjacent to sovereignty submerged lands.”

Tewksbury v. City of Deerfield Beach, 763 So. 2d 1071 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). “1985); see also § 253.141(1), Fla. Stat. (1997)("Riparian rights are those incident to land bordering upon navigable waters.”

Reynolds v. Cnty. of Volusia, 659 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). “[5] In order to have littoral rights, the lot owners had to establish that they were owners of the uplands bounded by the Atlantic Ocean.”

Whetstone v. City of St. Augustine, 186 So. 3d 34 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016). “” § 253.141(1), Fla. Stat. (2012). The court observed that the Whetstones’ 1965 deed did not extend to Matan-zas Bay and therefore precluded their assertion of riparian rights.”

— 253.141(2) — 1 case

Bradley Geise & Sarah Geise v. Peter Fleck Kari Fleck (Fla. 6th DCA 2026). “”); § 253.141(1), Fla. Stat. (“Riparian rights are those incident to land bordering upon navigable waters.”

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