Accretion
National Real Estate Exam glossary · National Real Estate Exam
Definition
The gradual, natural addition of land along a watercourse through the slow deposit of soil (alluvion). Title to the new land vests in the adjoining owner. Its opposite, the gradual loss of land to water, is erosion.
Accretion in plain English
When land sits next to a river or lake, moving water slowly drops tiny bits of soil along the shore, and over years that adds up to new land. Accretion is that slow, natural build-up, and the good news for the property owner is the new land legally becomes theirs. Picture a sandbar quietly growing at the edge of your riverfront yard until it's solid ground you own. The reverse also happens, called erosion, where water slowly eats your land away instead.
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