Potomac Shores, Inc. v. River Riders, Inc.

Maryland and Virginia have wrangled for centuries over two rivers, the Potomac and the Pocomoke, that constitute most of their shared boundary. In 1877, an arbitration award, accepted by both states and ratified by the Congress, established the boundary as the low-water mark on the Virginia side of the Potomac River for those parts of the State and the Commonwealth located west of the Chesapeake Bay. 1 But the shores of the Potomac, like those of all rivers, change as a result of accretion, erosion, and reliction. 2 Does the boundary between Maryland and Virginia shift as the south bank of…