Art. 458. The owners of estates adjoining ponds or lagoons do not acquire the land left dry by the natural decrease of the waters, or lose that inundated by them in extraordinary floods. (Civil Code)


A's land bordered a lagoon. The adjoining land is left dry by the natural decrease of the waters. Does A acquire said land?

No. The owners of estates adjoining ponds or lagoons do not acquire the land left dry by the natural decrease of the waters.


A's land bordered a lagoon. Because of an extraordinary flood, a portion of the land was inundated. Had A lost said portion of land?

 No. Owners of land adjoining ponds or lagoons do not lose the land inundated by them in extraordinary flood.


When is Art. 458 applicable?

Art. 458 applies when the estate adjoins:

  1. a pond 
  2. a lagoon

When is Art. 458 not applicable?

It does not apply when the estate adjoins a lake, a river or a creek or other streams.


What is a pond?

It is a body of stagnant water without an outlet, larger than a puddle and smaller than a lake.


What is lagoon?

A lagoon is a small lake, ordinarily of fresh water, and not very deep, fed by floods, the hollow bed of which is bounded by the elevations of the land.


What is a lake?

A lake is a body of water formed in depressions of the earth; ordinarily fresh water, coming from rivers, brooks, or springs and connected with the sea by them.
Reference:
Edgardo L. Paras, Civil Code of the Philippines Annotated, Book II, Property