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.
Bodies of water, including the sea, rivers, and some lakes, over which the public has a right to sail and anchor. This right of passage conveys no claim upon the lands underlying the water; title to such land remains with the owner or the state (except in the case of open seas), although the title holder may not impede innocent passage over the waterway.
Traditionally, waters sufficiently deep and wide for navigation by all, or specific sizes of, vessels.
those waterways upon which commercial or private vessels are able to operate in their customary mode of navigation.
Traditionally, waters sufficiently deep and wide for navigation by all, or specified vessels; such waters in the United States come under federal jurisdiction and are protected by certain provisions of the Clean Water Act.
Water usable, with or without improvements, as routes for commerce in the customary means of travel on water.
The term navigable waters encompasses more than bodies of water large enough to accommodate a boat. The term may also include streams, creeks, and wetlands that empty into larger rivers and lakes as well as their adjoining shorelines. However, ground water is not considered a navigable water; therefore, a spill that impacts or potentially impacts ground water but not the navigable waters of the U.S. is not an OPA spill. If you are unsure if a spill involves navigable water, call an NPFC Claims Manager for help.
Those stream waters lawfully declared or actually used as such. Navigable Waters of the United States are those determined by the Corps of Engineers or the U.S. Coast Guard to be so used in interstate or international commerce. Other streams have been held as navigable by courts under the common law that navigability in fact is navigability in law.
This term encompasses all waters which can transport people or cargo for interstate or foreign commerce.
The term "water of the United States" is very broadly defined in the Clean Water Act. It means navigable waters, tributaries to navigable waters, interstate waters, the oceans out to 200 miles, and intrastate waters that are used by interstate travelers for recreation or other purposes, as a source of fish or shellfish sold in interstate commerce, or for industrial purposes by industries engaged in interstate commerce.