N.D. Const. art. XI, § 3 — Research

Waters of the State. Text of the section: current and prior versions.

Every citing reference in the corpus: 10 court opinions and 3 Attorney General opinions. Counts include the section's pre-1981 designation (§ 210), era-gated by the renumbering crosswalk.

Generated from the citation graph of the validated corpus. Treatment groupings (construing / citing / recital) are heuristic reading aids, not editorial judgments — read the opinion before relying on any signal.

Topics are machine-generated groupings of the citing references — reading aids, not editorial judgments. Documents cited after the last classification pass appear in the lists below until the next pass.

• State v. Leland, et al., 2026 ND 99 (2026, Jensen, J.) · quotes the provision
  • ¶ 10: “…he beds of navigable waters within its borders. Reep v. State, 2013 ND 253, ¶ 14, 841 N.W.2d 664; see also Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544, 551 (1981) ("After a State enters the Union, title to the land is governed by State law."); N.D. Const. art. XI, § 3 ("All flowing streams and natural watercourses shall forever remain the property of the state for mining, irrigating and manufacturing purposes."); N.D.C.C. § 47-01-15 ("All navigable rivers shall remain and be deemed p…”
• Sorum, et al. v. State, et al., 2020 ND 175 (2020, Tufte, J.) · quotes the provision
  • ¶ 47: “…The Plaintiffs argue the district court erred in concluding N.D.C.C. ch. 61-33.1 does not violate N.D. Const. art. XI, § 3 ("the watercourses clause").…”
• Ozark-Mahoning Co. v. State, 1949 ND 14 (1949, Nuessle, J.) · quotes the provision
  • “…d States government are fixed and vested as of the dates of the patents. 9. A legislative declaration that all meandered lakes are navigable will not make them so if they are not navigable in fact as against the pre-existing rights of riparian owners. 10. Section 210 of the Constitution of the State of North Dakota providing that all flowing streams and natural water courses shall forever remain the property of the state for mining, irrigating, and manufacturing purposes, has applic…”
• State v. Brace, 1949 ND 5 (1949, Morris, J.) · quotes the provision
  • “…y the United States Government. 6. The legislature may not adopt a retroactive definition of navigability which would destroy a title already vested under a federal grant or transfer to the state a property right previously acquired by a private owner. 7. Section 210 of the North Dakota Constitution does not vest title to the bed of a non-navigable lake in the State of North Dakota nor reserve to the state any right therein for the purpose of establishing a Wildlife Refuge. Attorn…”

• Reep, et al. v. State, et al. (consolidated w/20130111), 2013 ND 253 (2013, Sandstrom, J.)
• State ex rel. Sprynczynatyk v. Mills, 1994 ND 212 (1994, Neumann, J.)

• Mougey Farms v. Kaspari, et al., 1998 ND 118 (1998, Sandstrom, J.) · quotes the provision
  • ¶ 30: “…North Dakota law provides "[a]ll flowing streams and natural watercourses shall forever remain the property of the state for mining, irrigating and manufacturing purposes." N.D. Const. Art. XI, § 3. Under N.D.C.C. § 61-01-01, all waters in flowing streams are subject to appropriation for beneficial use, and the right to use those waters must be acquired under N.D.C.C. ch. 61-14 04. In upholding the constitution…”
• N.D. Att'y Gen.: N.D. Op. Att'y Gen. 52-54 (1952)
• N.D. Att'y Gen.: N.D. Op. Att'y Gen. 47-135 (1947)
• Roberts v. Taylor, 1921 ND 3 (1921, Birdzell, J.) · quotes the provision
  • “…ist upon such test or pursuant to direct declaration of the law. In the Constitution of this state it is stated: "All flowing streams and natural water courses shall forever remain the property of the state for mining, irrigating, and manufacturing purposes." Section 210, N. D. Const. This is a declaration concerning public waters. See Bigelow v. Draper, 6 N. D. 152, 162, 163, 69 N. W. 570. The statutes have given recognition to this constitutional policy. Section 5352, C. L. 1913, pr…”
• State ex rel. Trimble v. Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Co., 1914 ND 123 (1914, Bruce, J.) · quotes the provision
  • “…o the right of the upper riparian owners to the free flowage of the water there over and of the lower riparian owners also to have that flowage unobstructed. The rule is laid down in the case of Bigelow v. Draper, 6 N. D. 152, 69 N. W. 570, where it is said: "Section 210 of the Constitution does not prohibit the diversion of a portion of a nonnavigable water course, where such diversion is needed for a public use; the substantial integrity of the stream not being thereby impaired. Under…”
• Bigelow v. Draper, 1896 ND 38 (1896, Corliss, J.)

• N.D. Att'y Gen.: N.D. Op. Att'y Gen. (Mar. 1, 1988)

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