ABSTRACT
A major issue for many rivers and streams is water quantity. However, it is not just the quantity of water that is important, for both human use and aquatic organisms, but also the water quality. Water quality has long been an issue in our streams and rivers. Some of the earlier concerns regarding water quality had more to do with navigation rather than aquatic health. For example, the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 was established to protect navigation by banning the dumping of refuse matter into waterways. This law led to a federal permitting process that is still used today by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) to protect navigable waterways. Of course, implementation also requires a definition of “navigable waters.” For example, one definition from the Corps (the legal definition of “traditional navigable waters”) is
An alternative definition of a navigable waterbody is any waterbody that the courts have determined to be navigable. The definition of what is a navigable waterway is of particular recent importance with regard to the protection of wetlands, subject to them being directly connected to a navigable waterway, as will be discussed in a later chapter.
