Definitions for "Public Trust Doctrine"
A doctrine of state ownership of stream and lake beds that has been applied, most notably in California, to cut back on historic diversions to sustain fish and wildlife habitat and recreation. Has not been recognized in Colorado, although the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that the Colorado Water Conservation Board has a fiduciary duty to the people of Colorado to enforce the instream flow water rights it obtains.
The legal doctrine that protects the rights of the public to use watercourses for navigation, commerce, fisheries, recreation, open space, preservation of ecological units in their natural state, and similar uses for which those lands are uniquely suited. It is based on the California State Constitution and goes back to English Common Law. The California Supreme Court state, “The state has an affirmative duty to take the public trust into account in the planning and allocation of water resources, and to protect public trust uses whenever feasible.
The doctrine based on the common law principle that certain lands and waters are so important to the public that private ownership or other impediments to public uses should not be permitted. Under the Public Trust Doctrine, the State of Connecticut holds title to the foreshore, open tidal waters, and submerged land under tidal waters seaward of the mean high water line as trustee for the public and must administer the use of these lands in the public interest.