Can a landowner charge the public for the use of their land?

In Bohn v. Albertson (1951) 107 Cal.App.2d 738, 238 P.2d 128, a tract of land was flooded when a levee broke. The flooding converted the land into a navigable body of water, upon which pleasure boats sailed and the public fished. It was held that the landowner could not charge the public for use of the water because while it was subject to recreational use it was a navigable body. However, the court held that the landowner had the right to reclaim the land since he had not lost title when it was suddenly flooded by the break in the levee, in accordance with the established rule governing avulsion.

19 In Abbott v. City of Los Angeles (1958) 50 Cal.2d 438, 456, 326 P.2d 484, a "rule of property" was defined as "A settled rule or principle, resting usually on precedents or a course of decisions, regulating the ownership or devolution of property.... The principle appears to be an extension of the 'stare decisis ' rule, which ... seems to apply with peculiar force and strictness to decisions which have determined questions respecting real property and vested rights....''