What happens when two landowners own adjacent properties at the boundary of a navigable stream?

In the context of navigable streams, the legal principle at play is that navigable waters are considered public resources, and typically, the government retains ownership of the stream bed. This is based on the doctrine that navigable waters are essential for commerce and should be accessible to the public. Thus, adjacent landowners do not own the stream bed when it falls within the legal definition of a navigable waterway.

This principle serves to ensure that the public can freely navigate and utilize these waterways, without landowners restricting access or claiming ownership over the water itself. Therefore, the entire stream bed is generally owned by the government, which allows for public uses such as boating and fishing, while private landowners retain ownership only of the land on their side of the stream up to the high-water mark. This reflects a balance between private property rights and the public's right to access natural waterways.