United States v. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad

Background

A railroad and a telegraph company had tracks and pole lines on an embankment along the west bank of the Mississippi River. The United States built a dam as part of a navigation improvement that raised the river and created a pool, flooding low lands and forcing the companies to add riprap to protect the embankment. The Government brought condemnation proceedings in 1933 to acquire the right to back water over the companies’ right of way, and lower courts awarded damages for injury to the entire embankment.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the United States must pay when raising a navigable river’s level injures structures lying between ordinary high and low water marks. The Court held that Congress’s power to improve navigation includes control of the river bed up to the ordinary high-water mark (the usual high-water line), and that injuries caused within those limits are not compensable because the property there is subject to the federal power. The Court explained that an earlier divided decision did not control the law and reversed the judgment, while leaving factual disputes about which segments actually lie below the high-water line for the lower court to resolve.

Real world impact

The ruling means owners of riverbank property, including railroads and utilities, may not recover compensation for damage to structures located below the ordinary high-water mark when the Government raises water for navigation projects. If structures are above the ordinary high-water line or lie on a non-navigable tributary, compensation might still be due. The case was sent back to the District Court to decide the remaining location questions and apply the rule.

Dissents or concurrances

The opinion notes prior Supreme Court decisions were divided on this issue and that an earlier split decision awarding compensation would not be followed as controlling law.