walking in creekbeds

My children, in 2004, walking in the creekbed of my youth,
at our property in East Texas

When I was eleven my parents answered one of my biggest wishes, they purchased 20 acres in East Texas on Lake Livingston.  It was completely primitive, a small hunting cabin hidden by the pine forest.  For us it was a weekend camp, a summertime retreat.  I remember fondly time spent swimming in Lake Livingston (before the alligators took over), fishing with my dad and hunting the now silent bob white quail whose calls once filled the air.  My favorite past time was walking along the creek bed that ran through our property.  I, accompanied only by our dogs, would follow that creek for miles through the timber land in which our property sits like an island.  The animals I encountered are too numerous to recall, I think I saw it all.  I remember hearing a mountain lion scream once, sending myself and all five labradors running like kittens back home.  The dogs and I would wade in the cool waters, and swim in the deeper pools along the creek, low during the summer months but always with running water from the artesian springs along it.  I had no phone, walkie talkie or other way to communicate with my parents.  In today's views of parenting, they could be considered negletful, but that was the time when kids played outside from dawn to dusk, rarely checking in except to eat. 

Those memories are so magical in my mind, I want my children to have similar experiences, albeit more supervised.  While we still own the East Texas property, our visits are much less often.  At our home in the suburban DFW metroplex, we live several homes away from a creek.  Although mostly dry during the year, ponds are filled with fish, turtles and snakes.... and a good amount of urban trash.  Armed with a phone, check in instructions and an army of friends, I encourage my children to play outside, to explore and to act like, well, children.   However, our house rules are written in stone.  Don't talk to strangers.  Don't go inside houses without permission.  Imagine my surprise when I receive a message from a neighbor, telling me my 10 year old daughter and her friends were SWIMMING in the creek!  I stop short of punishing her ..... have I ever actually said, "Don't swim in the creek!"?  No, but isn't that one of the non spoken rules, you don't swim without supervision?   But imagine my shock a few days later when I receive another message that my daughter and friends were walking along the mostly dry creek beds and that the adjacent home owner is furious that they are on her property!  My reaction is a little different this time, because I don't think she is doing anything wrong!

I did my research.  As a canoeing enthusiast, I know that rivers and creeks are public access, even if landowners don't always appreciate it.  But Texas tresspassing laws aren't very clear in these areas.  The law, in fact, is meant to include walking as well as boating.   From Texas Parks and Wildlife, "Under a law dating from 1837, a stream is navigable so far as it retains an average width of 30 feet from its mouth up. The width measured is the distance between the fast (or firmly fixed) land banks. A stream satisfying the 30 foot rule is sometimes referred to as “statutorily navigable” or “navigable by statute.” Under a court decision, the public has rights along a stream navigable by statute just as if the stream were navigable in fact." 

It's important to understand that they mean the land banks, not the water inside the banks.  The water itself can be dry a portion of the year, and it doesn't matter.

"The entire bed is to be included in the width, not just the area covered by flowing water. The bed extends all the way between the fast land banks. These are the banks which separate the stream bed from the adjacent upland (whether valley or hill) and confine the waters to a definite channel. Further, stream segments having a width of less than 30 feet do not defeat the stream’s navigability by statute, so long as the stream’s width maintains an average of 30 feet or more." 

Armed with this little knowledge, you can feel safe in taking your kids out to wander, explore and discover all the amazing things you can find in a creek!

For more information on Texas Stream Navigation Laws, see Texas Parks and Wildlife's Texas River Guide.  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/nonpwdpubs/water_issues/rivers/navigation/riddell/navigability.phtml#infact