What Does Riparian Mean?

Riparian is an adjective which means of, on, or pertaining to the shores of a natural flow of water.

While most often the term is used to mean living, located on or pertaining to the shore of a natural watercourse (such as a river), it may sometimes mean of a lake or tidewater. A related term is a riparian zone which is used to describe the interface that forms between a flowing surface body of water and land. Another related term is riparian rights which refer to the rights that an owner of the land that forms the shore of a stream or river is entitled to. It typically relates to the owner's right to utilise water coming from the waterway.

The term riparian has its roots in the Latin riparius; which comes from the term ripa, meaning bank.

Add Comment

Report