Who owns water rights in Michigan?
Who owns water rights in Michigan? Michigan landowners have a legal right to use the surface waters immediately adjacent to their property. Land is riparian when it includes or is bounded by a natural watercourse. Littoral land includes or abuts a lake.
Who owns the shoreline in Michigan?
Since the State owns up to the high-water line, it holds these properties as a public trust, giving the general public the right to use everything below that high point. A lakeshore property owner can't do anything to obstruct that right - such as building a fence or gate below the ordinary high-water line.
Does Michigan own the Great Lakes?
The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.