A navigation authority is a company or statutory body which is concerned with the management of a

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against dir ...

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Rights of a navigation authority

Whilst the rights of individual authorities vary, a navigation authority will typically have a right to: *Implement a registration or licensing scheme for boats on

waterways A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary ...

under their control *Levy a licence fee, tolls or both on vessels using the waterway *Lay down rules regarding the manner in which vessels shall be navigated.

Responsibilities of a navigation authority

Again, responsibilities vary, but will usually include: *Maintaining

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

and other structures *

Dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

the channel *Flood control

Ownership of the waterway

Whilst a navigation authority may own the land over which the waterway runs, and usually does in the case of artificial waterways, this is not invariably the case, and particularly in the case of river navigations, the land beneath the river may belong to

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

landowners.

List of navigation authorities

United Kingdom

Major authorities

Canal & River Trust The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, the ...

- most canals and approximately half of all rivers *

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

** Fens and Anglian system: Ancholme,

Glen A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...

Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

, Nene, Stour,

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...

** Wye and Lugg **Non-tidal

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Royal Military Canal The Royal Military Canal is a canal running for between Seabrook near Folkestone and Cliff End near Hastings, following the old cliff line bordering Romney Marsh, which was constructed as a defence against the possible invasion of England du ...

Minor authorities

*Basingstoke Canal Authority (

Basingstoke Canal The Basingstoke Canal is an English canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation. From Basingstoke, the canal passes through or near Greywell, North Warnborough, Odiham, Dogm ...

) *

Broads Authority The Broads Authority is the agency which has statutory responsibility for the Broads in England. Originally, the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England), pressed for a special authority to manage the Broads which had been neglected for ...

Conservators of the River Cam The Conservators of the River Cam are the navigation authority for the River Cam in Cambridgeshire and were founded in 1702. History Cambridge had been a major inland port as a result of its position on the navigable River Cam for centuries, b ...

Manchester Ship Canal Company The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the rive ...

Port of Tyne The Port of Tyne comprises the commercial docks on and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear in the northeast of England. History There has been a port on the Tyne at least since the Romans used their settlement of Arbeia to supply the gar ...

Middle Level Commissioners The Middle Level Commissioners are a land drainage authority in eastern England. The body was formed in 1862, undertaking the main water level management function within the Middle Level following the breakup of the former Bedford Level Corporati ...

(

Middle Level Navigations The Middle Level Navigations are a network of waterways in England, primarily used for land drainage, which lie in The Fens between the River Nene, Rivers Nene and Great Ouse, and between the cities of Peterborough and Cambridge. Most of the a ...

) *

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

(River

Wey and Godalming Navigations The River Wey Navigation and Godalming Navigation together provide a continuous navigable route from the River Thames near Weybridge via Guildford to Godalming (commonly called the Wey Navigation). Both waterways are in Surrey and are owned b ...

) *

Port of London Authority The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its ...

( Tidal River Thames)

Other bodies

Association of Inland Navigation Authorities {{Use British English, date=July 2017 The Association of Inland Navigation Authorities (AINA) is an unincorporated membership organisation in the United Kingdom. Membership is available for navigation authorities in the United Kingdom who have le ...

France

Voies navigables de France (VNF, en, Navigable Waterways of France) is the French navigation authority responsible for the management of the majority of France's inland waterways network and the associated facilities—towpaths, commercial and leisure ports, lock-keeper's ...

The Netherlands

Rijkswaterstaat Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the ''Bureau voor den Waterstaat'' and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Net ...

United States

List of navigation authorities in the United States This List of navigation authorities in the United States is a link list for any navigation authority in the United States. U.S. government *United States Army Corps of Engineers *United States Coast Guard *United States Department of Homeland Secu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navigation Authority Water transport in the United Kingdom