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Mean High Water is an elevation determined over a 19 year time frame, and it is the the demarcation line between upland (private land) and tideland (state owned public land). It is this elevation that is reproducible and therefore upholds in court because it can be reproduced on the ground. While there may be physical evidence in some instances such as rocks having darkened areas, generally speaking sandy beaches and especially those that are in flat areas the evidence of tidal influences are more difficult to determine, which is why the Mean High Water "line" (elevation) is used.
As a generalization, when there has been a sudden and perceptible change in the shoreline (storms), as by avulsion or reliction, the property boundary does not change, but remains as before (i.e. the mean high water mark, if in Rhode Island). When there has been a slow or gradual change in the shoreline, as by accretion or erosion, as a generalization the property line does change, with the landowner either losing property (erosion) or acquiring more property (accretion).
I do not know the details of this case, but the case may be concerned with public right of way. Without the right of way (public right of access over private or state land), we would have legal no access to the area below the MHW line (where we fish).
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