James River Buffer Program Protects Virginia Riparian Property Rights

We previously described in this blog that waterfront property owners pay an extra 25% to 45% to buy property on the water so it’s nice to see steps taken to protect the expensive investment buyers make to acquire riparian property rights. Clean water equals more valuable riparian property rights so waterfront property owners on the James River in Virginia ought to be especially pleased with developments last week. In the middle of the week, on July 10, as written about in this blog, the Virginia State Water Control Board took steps to get algae blooms in the tidal James River under control. (Read this article in our blog for a description of the five riparian property rights, an explanation of how waterfront property lines are formed, and tips for people buying waterfront property.) At the end of the week, Governor Northam announced the Launch of the James River Buffer Program. As noted in the Governor’s press release issued last Friday, riparian forested buffers (i.e. the trees, shrubs, grasses, etc. that grow along the waterway) are “one of the most cost effective mechanisms for capturing pollution form the land and improving the water quality of a river”.