The Missing Corner in a Fractional Section Along a Navigable Lake
You are asked to establish the lost SE corner of Section 22, T4S, R8E, Copper River Meridian. The section lies along a navigable lake, and the 1912 GLO plat shows the south boundary as a meander line with two meander corners; the SE corner itself was never set because the meander line ended at the lake. The plat shows the south half of the section as fractional, with the south boundary of the SE1/4 running to the lake. You have found the S1/4 corner and the E1/4 corner, both original, and you have found the original bearing trees for the SE corner area, but the corner monument itself is gone. A nearby landowner claims the lake has receded 60 ft since 1912 and that the receded bed belongs to him as riparian land. The lake is navigable and the state owns the bed.
1. How do you establish the lost SE corner, given that the original corner was never monumented and the meander line is the only record?
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A corner that was never set is not a 'lost' corner in the technical sense; it is an unmonumented corner whose position must be established from the record and from the controlling original corners. Use the original S1/4 and E1/4 corners and the record plat bearings and distances to compute the position of the SE corner by intersection or by running the record lines. The bearing trees, if they are original accessories to the corner, corroborate the computed position; if they were set to the meander corner or to another corner, do not misapply them. The meander line is not a boundary and does not control the corner location; it only describes the approximate shore at the date of survey. Establish the corner on the record lines from the controlling original corners, monument it, and document the basis. If the record is ambiguous, use the best available evidence and state the uncertainty.
2. The landowner claims the 60 ft of receded lake bed. What is the rule for navigable lake boundaries in Alaska, and how do you advise him?
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For navigable waters, the state holds title to the bed below the ordinary high water mark, and the upland owner's boundary is the ordinary high water mark, not the meander line. The upland owner does not gain title to receded bed of a navigable lake by reliction; the state's title to the bed is not divested by the mere recession of water, and the boundary remains the ordinary high water mark as it may shift, subject to the state's ownership of the bed. Accretion and reliction rules that apply to non-navigable waters and to gradual changes do not give the riparian owner title to navigable bed. Advise the landowner that the 60 ft of receded bed is state land, that his boundary is the ordinary high water mark, and that he should not build or claim to the former meander line; if he disputes it, the matter is for the state and possibly the courts. Your survey should show the ordinary high water mark and note the state's ownership.
3. What must your survey show along the lake boundary, and how do you treat the meander line in your plat?
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Show the ordinary high water mark as the boundary, located by field evidence (vegetation change, bank, water line, soils), and show the meander line as a record line for reference only, clearly labeled as not a boundary. Show the state's ownership of the bed and the basis for the OHWM location. Show the meander corners as found or re-established, and show the fractional south boundary of the SE1/4 running to the OHWM. Do not close the lot on the meander line as if it were the boundary. Document the 1912 plat, the field evidence for the OHWM, and any change since 1912. If the OHWM has moved, show its current location and explain the basis; do not simply adopt the 1912 meander line as the boundary.