On 2019-04-28 20:25, Kevin Kenny wrote:
> Precisely the same quest for topologic perfection is responsible for the rule
> that fixes the mouth of a river at its tidal limit - which gives rise to the
> absurd result that the mouth of the Hudson River is at
> https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/90929525, or of the Connecticut River at
> https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/22889153, while the reaches below are part
> of the ocean. This absurdity arises directly from the concept that what the
> locals would call the river's mouth, being perforce represented by an
> imaginary line across otherwise unmarked water, is not verifiable.
Although the definition of "coastline" giving rise to the Hudson
situation, I don't think anybody would argue that what this line
represents is the location of the mouth of the river. Obviously that
would be somewhere below NYC where you would expect it to be. How about
taking the maritime baseline (according to UNCLOS) as the location of
the rivermouth? Then it becomes both credible and verifiable, as the
baselines are deposited at the UN for the purposes of determining the
limits of territorial waters.
Don't we already (grudgingly) allow polygons to indicate maritime areas
with fuzzy boundaries, such as bays and straits? Why should that be
tolerated while the same concept on land is frowned upon?
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