Purpose   of  Navigation

Justice Strong, State of South Carolina v. State of Georgia, 93 U.S. 4 (1876):

"...It is not, however, to be conceded that Congress has no power to order obstructions to be placed in the navigable waters of the United States, either to assist navigation or to change its direction by forcing it into one channel of a river rather than the other. It may build light-houses in the bed of the stream. It may construct jetties. It may require all navigators to pass along a prescribed channel, and may close any other channel to their passage. If, as we have said, the United States have succeeded to the power and rights of the several States, so far as control over inter-State and foreign commerce is concerned, this is not to be doubted...."

Justice McKenna Greenleaf-Johnson Lumber Co. v. Garrison, 237 U.S. 251 (1915):

..."The mooring of vessels is as necessary as their movement, and the navigability of a river can be maintained or increased as legally for the accommodation of war vessels as for trading vessels, those of public ownership as well as those of private ownership, and we cannot enter into a consideration of what may be necessary for either purpose.

"It was said in United States v. Chandler-Dunbar Water Power Co. 229 U. S. at page 64, 57 L. ed. 1076, 33 Sup. Ct. Rep. 667: So unfettered is the 'control of Congress over the navigable streams of the country, that its judgment as to whether a construction in or over such a river is or is not an obstacle and a hindrance to navigation is conclusive. Such judgment and determination is the exercise of legislative power in respect of a subject wholly within its control.' And in Scranton v. Wheeler, 179 U. S. page 162, 45 L. ed. 137, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 48: 'Whether navigation upon waters over which Congress may exert its authority requires improvement at all, or improvement in a particular way, are matters wholly within its discretion.' This power has been exercised by the act of March 3, 1899 [30 Stat. at L. 1121, chap. 425], delegating to the Secretary of War the power to establish harbor lines, and, necessarily, to require the removal of structures which project beyond them. Union Bridge Co. v. United States, supra."

As stated by Justice Barndeis in Port of Seattle v. Oregon & W. R. CO., 255 U.S. 56 (1921):

Justice Sanford in United States v. River Rouge Improvement Co., 269 U.S. 411 (1926) stated:

"This right of a riparian owner, it is true, is subordinate to the public right of navigation, and subject to the general rules and regulations imposed for the protection of such public right. And it is of no avail against the exercise of the absolute power of Congress over the improvement of navigable rivers, but must suffer the consequences of the improvement of navigation, if Congress determines that its continuance is detrimental to the public interest in the navigation of the river. United States v. Chandler-Dunbar Co., supra, 62, 70 (33 S. Ct. 667).

"The right of the United States in the navigable waters within the several States is, however, 'limited to the control thereof for purposes of navigation.' Port of Seattle v. Oregon Railroad, 255 U.S. 56, 63, 41 S. Ct. 237, 239 (65 L. Ed. 500). And while Congress, in the exercise of this power, may adopt, in its judgment, any means having some positive relation to the control of navigation and not otherwise inconsistent with the Constitution, United States v. Chandler-Dunbar Co., supra, 62 (33 S. Ct. 667), it may not arbitrarily destroy or impair the rights of riparian owners by legislation which has no real or substantial relation to the control of navigation or appropriateness to that end. In Yates v. Milwaukee, supra, 504, it was said in reference to the right of a riparian owner of a navigable stream:

'This riparian right is property, and is valuable, and, though it must be enjoyed in due subjection to the rights of the public, it cannot be arbitrarily or capriciously destroyed or impaired.'

Justice Black, in U. S. v. Commodore Park, 324 U.S. 386 (1945):

..."Since the Navy Department originated this plan with a view to improvement of shore facilities, we are asked to hold that neither the dredging in Willoughby Bay nor the deposit of the dredged material in Mason Creek bore any real or substantial relation to commerce or navigation. Such a holding was the basis of the District Court's judgment. The Circuit Court held that the dredging in Willoughby Bay was, but the deposit in Mason Creek was not, related to commerce or navigation. We cannot agree. The 'fact that purposes other than navigation will also be served could not invalidate the exercise of the authority conferred, even if those other purposes would not alone have justified an exercise of Congressional Power.' State of Arizona v. State of California, 283 U.S. 423, 456, 51 S.Ct. 522, 526."

Stated Justice Douglas, in United States v. Twin City Power Co., 350 U.S. 222 (1956):

"The Court of Appeals concluded that the improvement of navigation was not the purpose of the taking but that the Clark Hill project was designed to serve flood control and water-power development. 215 F.2d, at 597. It is not for courts, however, to substitute their judgments for congressional decisions on what is or is not necessary for the improvement or protection of navigation. See Arizona v. California, 283 U.S. 423, 455-457. The role of the judiciary in reviewing the legislative judgment is a narrow one in any case. See Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26, 32; United States ex rel. TVA v. Welch, 327 U.S. 546, 552. The decision of Congress that this project will serve the interests of navigation involves engineering and policy considerations for Congress and Congress alone to evaluate. Courts should respect that decision until and unless it is shown "to involve an impossibility," as Mr. Justice Holmes expressed it in Old Dominion Co. v. United States, 269 U.S. 55, 66. If the interests of navigation are served, it is constitutionally irrelevant that other purposes may also be advanced. United States v. Appalachian Power Co., 311 U.S. 377, 426; Oklahoma ex rel. Phillips v. Atkinson Co., 313 U.S. 508, 525, 533-534. As we said in the Appalachian Power Co. case, 'Flood protection, watershed development, recovery of the cost of improvements through utilization of power are likewise parts of commerce control.' 311 U.S., at 426."