What principle generally prevails when dividing accreted land?

When determining how to divide accreted land, the principle that generally prevails is that the proportioning should be based on the frontage length prior to the accretion. This means that any newly formed land, which has emerged because of natural processes such as sediment deposition along a shoreline, is typically allocated to the existing property owners in proportion to their pre-existing land holdings along the shore.

This approach is grounded in the idea that property rights extend to the water's edge, and as the land changes due to accretion, those rights should adjust in accordance with the original ownership. The intent is to maintain fairness and consistency in property lines as natural changes occur, ensuring that landowners retain a proportionate amount of the new land based on their existing waterfront property.

This principle helps prevent disputes that might arise from equally dividing newly formed land without consideration of the original owners' waterfront entitlements, thereby promoting harmony in property ownership rights as they pertain to shifting boundaries along natural waters.