Who can buy

Buying Lakefront or Riverfront Land in Argentina: What You Can and Can't Do

By Nico F. · Updated October 12, 2026 · Leer esta nota en español

General information, not legal, immigration or tax advice. Rules, exchange rates and prices change and every case has its own details. Before you pay, sign or apply for residency, check the current rules with an Argentine notary (escribano), lawyer or accountant.

Quick answer If you buy land on a river or a navigable lake in Argentina, you own it up to the shoreline (línea de ribera). The riverbed, the beach and the water of rivers, streams and navigable lakes are public domain. On a non-navigable lake, what the lot includes depends on the title and on provincial water law. Where the waterway is suitable for transport by water, you must leave a 15 meter strip free (the camino de sirga, a towpath strip along the bank). Foreigners face one more limit: while Ley 26.737 (the Rural Land Law) is in force, a foreigner who is not exempt (art. 4) cannot hold title to or possess rural land that contains or borders a large, permanent body of water.

What is public domain and what belongs to the owner

Argentina's Civil and Commercial Code (Código Civil y Comercial) places rivers, and navigable lakes and lagoons, in the public domain (art. 235). The shoreline is set by the average of the highest ordinary floods. Non-navigable lakes that have no owner belong to the State's private domain (art. 236). If the river or lake is navigable, you own the land up to the shoreline, and the bed, the beach and the water are not part of the lot. On a non-navigable lake, art. 236 puts lakes with no owner in the State's private domain, art. 235 makes public any other water that serves general-interest uses, and provincial water laws may treat the water as public. Do not assume the lot includes any water or bed: read the title and ask the provincial water authority.

The camino de sirga: the 15 meter strip

The owner of land that borders waterways suitable for transport by water must leave a 15 meter strip free and must not build anything on it that interferes with navigation (art. 1974). Anyone harmed can ask for what was built to be removed. On navigable rivers and streams the rule is clear. On a lake, ask the municipality how it applies.

Other rules in the Code

• Owners of riverside land cannot change the natural course, direction or speed of the water, except for defensive works (art. 1975).
• Private rights must not harm the water, ecosystems or the landscape (art. 240).
• Each jurisdiction's administrative rules regulate land use (art. 1970).

Setbacks and strips by province

The shoreline and the setbacks are set by each jurisdiction, and the data is not uniform:

• Neuquén: the water authority determines the shoreline, guaranteeing riverside owners enough participation. The Public Land Code (Código de Tierras Fiscales) reserves 35 meters from the shores, but only for parcels of public land. In Villa La Angostura, a 35 meter strip with no building along Lake Nahuel Huapi was reported, under a municipal ordinance (the report does not name the ordinance; ask the municipality).
• Chubut: the Water Code (Ley XVII-53, formerly Ley 4148, arts. 6 and 7) says the authority sets the shoreline of rivers and lakes in the public domain. The final line requires at least 20 years of direct and continuous hydrological observations, and before it is set, the proceedings are made available to the riverside owner for review.
• Río Negro: ask the municipality and the provincial water agency.

Some shorelines in Bariloche and Villa La Angostura may fall inside Nahuel Huapi National Park, which has its own rules. Before buying, ask whether the lot is in the park or in its zone of influence.

The limit for foreign buyers

Ley 26.737 prohibits foreigners from holding title to property that contains, or borders, large and permanent bodies of water (art. 10). Three points help in reading it:

1. The law applies to rural land, meaning land outside the urban boundary (ejido urbano) (art. 1). An urban lot on the water falls outside that prohibition, although you should confirm this with the notary (escribano).
2. There is no official list of the lakes and rivers covered. The implementing decrees define only categories: bodies of water, large, and permanent. The follow-up report of the Auditoría General de la Nación (the national audit office), with fieldwork through August 2024, notes that the map the Federal Water Council (Consejo Hídrico Federal) was supposed to produce had not yet been made.
3. There is a certification procedure. Until there is a map, the request for the habilitation certificate must include a certification by a qualified professional (the form lists a land-surveying engineer, geologist, topographer or hydraulic engineer) stating that the property does not contain or border large, permanent bodies of water. The provincial water authority has ten business days to resolve, and if the Registry receives no formal opposition in that time, the request is considered authorized. A lot on a large, permanent lake could not get that statement.

The following people fall outside the law: those with ten years of continuous residence, those with Argentine children and five years of residence, and those who have been married to an Argentine for five years and have five years of residence (art. 4). The current status of the law is explained in Argentina's rural land law for foreigners. For the wider question, see can foreigners buy land in Argentina.

Before you buy

1. Ask for the survey plan (plano de mensura) (in Spanish) and check where the shoreline falls.
2. Ask the municipality about strips where you cannot build and about the permitted use.
3. If the lot is in the border security zone, confirm the regime that applies.
4. If you are a foreigner and the lot is rural, ask about the certification under art. 10.

See also: building a house on a lot in Patagonia, land prices in Andean Patagonia (2026 sample).

Sources

• Código Civil y Comercial, arts. 235, 236, 240, 1970, 1974 and 1975: argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish)
• Ley 26.737, arts. 1, 4 and 10: Boletín Oficial (in Spanish)
• Decreto 820/2016, art. 10 as replaced: argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish) and the certification form: argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish)
• Neuquén Undersecretariat of Water Resources, shoreline: cohife.org.ar (in Spanish)
• Shoreline strip on Lake Nahuel Huapi: Noticias NQN, August 19, 2025 (in Spanish)
• Chubut Water Code, Ley XVII-53: Justia (in Spanish)
• Follow-up report of the Auditoría General de la Nación: agn.gob.ar (in Spanish)