P.R. Laws tit. 12, § 642
Objects submerged in public channels continue to be the property of their owners; but if they should fail to remove them within a period of one year, they shall become the property of the persons who may do so after securing permission from the local authorities. If the objects submerged should constitute an obstacle to the current or to passage, the authorities shall grant the owners a reasonable period, upon the expiration of which, without the owners having availed themselves of their rights, they shall be removed as if they had been abandoned.
The owner of objects submerged in waters of private ownership shall apply for permission to the owner thereof to remove them, and if the owner should refuse permission it shall be granted by the local authority upon bond for losses and damages being given.
History —Law of Waters, art. 51.