A term of international law and of maritime law by which a coastal state will distinguish that part of the water adjacent to the coast which extends between the high and low tide mark, and for a variety of purposes such as, but not limited to, jurisdiction, property rights, environmental regulation, fishing, transportation or construction.
Some states, such as England, further distinguish tidal waters by referring to the high and low tides in Spring (emphasis added).
§255 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 states:
"'tidal water' means any part of the sea and any part of a river within the ebb and flow of the tide at ordinary spring tides, and not being a harbour."
Other jurisdictions prefer the term "tide water". Bouvier, in his 1897 American law dictionary, wrote:
"Tide-water is not limited to water which is salt, but embraces, also, so much of the water of fresh rivers as is propelled backwards by the ingress and pressure of the tide."
REFERENCES:
Merchant Shipping Act 1995, UK Public Acts 1995, Chapter 21