Coastal Services Center

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Determining Navigability (3 of 5)

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For Freshwaters: Standard for Navigability-in-Fact

The standard definition used by the Army Corps of Engineers for “navigable-in-fact” waters are those waters that can be used, in their natural condition, as avenues for waterborne trade and travel via the modes customary at the time of statehood.

Dates of Statehood

Courts have also employed a variety of more specific considerations in determining whether a water body is navigable-in-fact, such as whether the water body

• Is fit for valuable floatage, such as logs or lumber
• Can be navigated in its natural condition by small pleasure craft
• Has sufficient capacity as measured by water depth
• Has been previously used for navigation for a period of time
• Has been meandered on government surveys

Capacity for navigation, not usage, determines the navigable character of a water body.