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Ralph,
I don't think there is any debate about the laws regarding rivers that have been determined to be navigable. The problem is whether or not a river in question has been legally determined to be navigable.
Section 329.14 - Determination of navigability
a. Effect on determinations. Although conclusive determinations of navigability can be made only by federal Courts, those made by federal agencies are nevertheless accorded substantial weight by the courts. It is therefore necessary that when jurisdictional questions arise, district personnel carefully investigate those waters which may be subject to Federal regulatory jurisdiction under guidelines set out above, as the resulting determination may have substantial impact upon a judicial body. Official determinations by an agency made in the past can be revised or reversed as necessary to reflect changed rules or interpretations of the law.
b. Procedures of determination. A determination whether a waterbody is a navigable water of the United States will be made by the division engineer, and will be based on a report of findings prepared at the district level in accordance with the criteria set out in this regulation. Each report of findings will be prepared by the district engineer, accompanied by an opinion of the district counsel, and forwarded to the division engineer for final determination. Each report of findings will be based substantially on applicable portions of the format in paragraph (c) of this section.
The c. portion of this section justs outlines the format that needs to be used to report findings and it's kinda long so I left it out.
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