Water Rights at a Glance

National · Property Ownership & Land Use — free cheat sheet for the real estate licensing exam.

🏘️ Property Ownership & Land Use

📋 The 1-minute cheat sheet

Riparian: land touches a river/stream — reasonable use, rights run with the land
Littoral: land borders a lake/ocean — own to the high-water mark
Prior appropriation (arid states): first permit to divert wins — 'first in time'
Accretion adds land gradually; erosion removes it; avulsion = sudden change (boundaries stay)
Water rights are appurtenant — they transfer with the deed unless reserved

Is Water Rights at a Glance on the real estate exam?

Yes. Property Ownership & Land Use is a scored domain on the real estate licensing exam, and this topic appears in the national portion.

Is this cheat sheet free?

Yes — every page on CinnaPrep's resource library is free to read, print and share. The app adds practice questions, mock exams and a readiness score.