Definitions for "Navigable waters"
A waterway capable of being travelled by a vessel. Whether or not a waterway can be travelled is dependent on a number of conditions including its depth and/or width, streamflow, season and legality of access.
Navigable waters of the United States are waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and/or used to transport interstate or foreign commerce. Once the determination of navigability is made, it applies over the entire surface of the water body, and is not changed by later actions or events which impede or destroy navigable capacity. Also referred to as waters of the U.S.
Waterways on which commercial or private vessels are able to operate under their normal mode of navigation.