United States v. Cress

Background

These two cases were brought by private landowners against the United States to recover money for damage to land and a mill caused by government-built locks and dams on the Cumberland and Kentucky Rivers. In one case the owner of 189 acres on Whiteoak Creek had 6.6 acres subject to frequent backwater overflows after Lock and Dam No. 21; those acres were valued at $990, the overflow damage was $495, and loss of a ford and pass-way was found to be $500, for a total award of $995. In the other case owners of a 5.5-acre tract on Miller’s Creek lost the water drop needed to run a mill after Lock and Dam No. 12 raised pool stage; no land was overflowed, Miller’s Creek was found not navigable, and damages were $1,500.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether Congress’s authority over river navigation lets the Government raise tributary waters without paying owners. It held that navigability must be judged by a stream’s natural condition, not after artificial improvements, and that backwater permanently flooding or destroying essential water flow is a direct invasion of private property. The Court applied earlier decisions and the Fifth Amendment’s rule that the government must pay when it takes private property, and it affirmed the awards. The Court also allowed costs against the Government under the Judicial Code.

Real world impact

The decision requires the federal government to compensate landowners when navigation projects permanently back water onto private tributary land or destroy a mill’s necessary water drop. It limits the Government’s practical power to raise waterways without payment. Landowners near rivers and creeks and owners of water-powered mills can rely on compensation for similar takings.