Norby v. Estate of Kuykendall

[¶ 17] North Dakota statute N.D.C.C. § 47-06-05 plainly says:

Where from natural causes land forms by imperceptible degrees upon the bank of a river or stream, navigable or not navigable, either by accumulation of material or by the recession of the stream, such land belongs to the owner of the bank, subject to any existing right of way over the bank.

The majority opinion essentially says the statute is similar to the common law so we will analyze the case as if there were no statute. But in North Dakota there is no common law where the law is declared by statute. N.D.C.C. § 1-01-06 (“In this…