Recapturing Water for Sustainability Through Redefinitions of Navigability and Ownership

Shelby D. Green, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University

Document Type Article

Abstract

In Defining "Navigability": Balancing State Court Flexibility and Private Rights in Waterways, 36 Cardozo L. Rev. 1415 (2015), Maureen Brady explains that over the last two centuries, state courts have broadened the concept of navigability, and applied the new definitions to alter existing land titles. As a consequence, many non-navigable waterways have become navigable waterways, increasing public ownership and extinguishing private rights.