Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Wisconsin

Shrinking River Boundary

A neighbor has recently attempted to claim ownership of a piece of property that has been owned and in my father's possession for 27 years. The legal description of the tract is as follows: ...due West a distance of thirty-four (34) rods to the so-called XXXX River; thence along said xxxx River in a Southeasterly direction to the Southeast corner of said SW � SE �; thence due North on East line of said SW � SE � to the place of beginning. The issue is that at the time of the origination of the deed in the late 1880's, the river was wider than its current state due to a blown dam. Thus the legal description above which in the 1880's was likely in the middle of the river or near its edge is now about 30 ft or so to the east of the river. The landowner accross the river recently had a land survey which brought this to light and they are now trying to claim ownership on both sides of the river. My question is can the ''shrinking'' of the river result in the loss of riverfront access in such a case? No one in those years has ever disputed the ownership including the current neighbor until now who has owned the land accross the river for some 8 yrs. Help!!

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