The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 5317 June 16, 1978 INLAND LAKES AND STREAMS ACT: Rights of riparian owner to sandbar connected to riparian property REAL ESTATE: Rights of riparian owner to sandbar connected to riparian property WATERS & WATERWAYS: Rights of riparian owner to sandbar connected to riparian property Ownership of land bordering on an inland lake carries with it ownership of the land under the adjacent water. When covered with water, the area may be used by the public for boating, fishing, water skiing, etc. If the water recedes and the land is exposed, it is no longer subject to public use and is under the control of the riparian owner. Where a sandbar is connected to upland and the water has receded so that the sandbar is connected to the upland, the riparian owner has control of that area and use by any other person without authority of the owner constitutes a trespass. Honorable Robert VanderLaan State Senator The Capitol Lansing, Michigan This is in response to your inquiry concerning use by water skiers of a sandbar connected to private property which is submerged during normal and high water levels, but lies exposed during low water levels. The Inland Lakes and Streams Act of 1972, 1972 PA 346; MCLA 281.951 et seq; MSA 11.475(1) et seq, is an act to protect riparian rights and the public trust in inland takes and streams. The applicable section of the act is 1972 PA 346, supra, Sec. 12, which states: 'This act shall not deprive a riparian owner of rights associated with his ownership of water frontage. A riparian owner among other rights controls any temporarily or periodically exposed bottomland to the water's edge, wherever it may be at any time and holds the land secure against trespass in the same manner as his upland subject to the public trust to the ordinary high water mark.' Submerged land of lakes and streams is land which is owned by the riparian owner; however, it is subject to the public trust while the land is covered by water at which time it may be used by the public for boating, fishing, water skiing, etc. Rice v Ruddiman, 10 Mich 125 (1862) holds that ownership of land bordering on the lake carries with it the ownership of the land under the adjacent water. When the submerged land is exposed, it is no longer subject to the public trust and public use while so exposed, but is in the entire control of the riparian owner. This principle was expressed in Doemel v Jantz, 180 Wis 225; 193 NW 393, and cited with approval by the Michigan Supreme Court in Hilt v Weber, 252 Mich 198 (1930). That case held that the riparian owner had the right to use the exposed area between the low and high water mark to the exclusion of the public. Doemel v Jantz, supra, was specifically approved in Hilt v Weber, supra, at page 226 as follows: '. . . it has been held that the public has no right of passage over dry land between low and high-water mark but the exclusive use is in the riparian owner, although the title is in the State.' If the facts are as stated and the sandbar is connected to the upland, the riparian owner would have the entire control of that area and use by any other person unauthorized to make it would constitute trespass. Consequently, it is my conclusion that an individual who, without consent of the owner, stands on or uses a sandbar which is part of the exposed bottomland of the riparian property is committing a trespass. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General