Chapter 780 — Improvement
and Use of Navigable Streams
2011 EDITION
IMPROVEMENT AND USE OF NAVIGABLE STREAMS
SHIPPING AND NAVIGATION
780.010 Stream
improvement authorized; channel obstruction prohibited
780.020 Entry
on riparian lands authorized; liability
780.030 Channels
improved are highways free to navigation
780.040 When
landowner may construct wharf
780.050 Municipality
or port may regulate construction of certain structures beyond low-water mark
780.060 Construction
not to interfere with oyster production
780.010 Stream improvement authorized;
channel obstruction prohibited. Any person,
association, or corporation may enter upon the channel or bed of any and all
rivers and watercourses, navigable or susceptible of being made navigable, and
perform work and labor thereon, and make such improvement of the same by
clearing out or deepening the channel, constructing wing dams, blasting and
removing rocks or ledges, removing sand bars, gravel bars, snags and all other
obstructions to navigation, so as to render the rivers or any of them navigable
at all seasons of the year or to improve the navigation. No work authorized by
ORS 780.010 and 780.020 to be done shall be so done or conducted as to obstruct
in any manner, either temporarily or otherwise, any channel or river now
navigable, but the closing of one or more channels in any river in order to
deepen or cause more water to flow in the main channel shall not be construed
as constituting an obstruction to the navigation of any river or watercourse.
780.020 Entry on riparian lands
authorized; liability. All persons, associations and
corporations engaging in improvement of the navigation of any river or
watercourse, as authorized in ORS 780.010, may enter upon the lands adjacent to
any river or watercourse for the purpose of cutting timber, taking rock,
gravel, dirt and other materials necessary for the prosecution of the work of
such improvement, and pass over adjacent lands with means of transportation
proper for conducting the work contemplated by ORS 780.010, doing as little
damage as possible, subject only to the payment of such damages as may be
assessed according to law.
780.030 Channels improved are highways
free to navigation. All channels of rivers and
watercourses made navigable or the navigation of which is improved, as
contemplated by ORS 780.010, shall be public highways, and shall be free to all
crafts navigating them. [Amended by 2005 c.22 §510]
780.040 When landowner may construct
wharf. (1) The owner of any land lying upon
any navigable stream or other like water, and within the corporate limits of
any incorporated town or within the boundaries of any port, may construct a
wharf upon the same, and extend the wharf into the stream or other like water
beyond low-water mark so far as may be necessary for the use and accommodation
of any ships, boats or vessels engaged exclusively in the receipt and discharge
of goods or merchandise or in the performance of governmental functions upon
the stream or other like water.
(2)
As used in this section, “wharf” does not include new lands created upon
submersible or submerged lands by artificial fill or deposit. [Amended by 1963
c.125 §1; 1973 c.328 §2]
780.050 Municipality or port may regulate
construction of certain structures beyond low-water mark.
The corporate authorities of the town wherein a wharf, dock, pier, moorage or
similar structure is proposed to be constructed, or the commission of any port
wherein the structure is proposed to be constructed if the proposed location of
the structure is not within any town, may regulate the construction of the
structure. Upon application of the person entitled to and desiring to construct
the wharf, dock, pier, moorage or similar structure, the corporate authorities
or port commission, as the case may be, may by ordinance or other like mode
prescribe the mode and extent to which the structure may be constructed beyond
the line of low-water mark so that the structure shall not be constructed any
farther into the stream or other water beyond the low-water line than may be
necessary and convenient for the use of the structure and so that it will not
unnecessarily interfere with the navigation of the stream or other like water. [Amended
by 1963 c.125 §2; 1973 c.328 §3]
780.060 Construction not to interfere with
oyster production. Nothing in this chapter
authorizes the construction of a wharf, dock, pier, moorage or similar
structure at any place where its construction and operation will substantially
impair or interfere with the cultivation and taking of oysters subject to the
provisions of ORS 622.210 to 622.300 and 622.320. [1969 c.675 §20; 1973 c.328 §4]
_______________