Opinion Number

Dear Ms. Cole:

This is in response to your request for an opinion concerning public use of river banks.

You ask whether or not the public has the right of use of the bank of a navigable river for purposes such as diving into the river for swimming or digging chutes into the bank to slide into the river for swimming. Additionally, you ask, what, if any, liability might attach to the riparian land owner for injuries sustained by canoers who are diving or sliding into the river from the bank to swim. Finally, you ask whether the bank includes the bluff above the area contained between ordinary…