WHETHER ADIRONDACK WATERWAY IS NAVIGABLE IN FACT, AND THEREFORE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC USE, COULD NOT BE DETERMINED AS A MATTER OF LAW.

The Court of Appeals held questions of fact precluded summary judgment in an action to determine whether a two-mile system of ponds and streams in a remote area of the Adirondack Mountains is navigable-in-fact.  If it is, it is subject to a public right of navigation (by canoe). If it isn't the adjacent private property owners can prohibit public use:

As a general principle, if a waterway is not navigable-in-fact, “it is the private property of the adjacent landowner” … . A waterway that is navigable-in-fact, however, “is considered a public highway, notwithstanding the fact that its banks and bed are in private hands” … . To be subject to this public easement, a waterway must provide practical utility to the public as a means for transportation, whether for trade or travel (Adirondack League Club, 92 NY2d at 603). In Adirondack League Club, though we did “not broaden the standard for navigability-in-fact,” we held that recreational use may properly be “part of the navigability analysis” … . Friends of Thayer Lake LLC v Brown, 2016 NY Slip Op 03647, CtApp 5-10-16

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (WATER LAW, WHETHER ADIRONDACK WATERWAY IS NAVIGABLE IN FACT, AND THEREFORE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC USE, COULD NOT BE DETERMINED AS A MATTER OF LAW)/WATER LAW (WHETHER ADIRONDACK WATERWAY IS NAVIGABLE IN FACT, AND THEREFORE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC USE, COULD NOT BE DETERMINED AS A MATTER OF LAW)/ADIRONDACKS (WATER LAW, WHETHER ADIRONDACK WATERWAY IS NAVIGABLE IN FACT, AND THEREFORE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC USE, COULD NOT BE DETERMINED AS A MATTER OF LAW)