Opinion ID: 1960674
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Navigability

Text: [3] In order for an unauthorized structure or deposit to constitute a violation of Chapters 30 and 31, Stats., it must be placed or located upon a navigable waterway. Sec. 30.10 (2), Stats. 1973, states that [a]ll streams, sloughs, bayous and marsh outlets, which are navigable in fact for any purpose whatsoever, are declared navigable to the extent that no dam, bridge or other obstruction shall be made in or over the same without permission of the state. The test of whether a stream is navigable in fact was established by this court in Muench v. Public Service Comm., 261 Wis. 492, 506, 53 N.W.2d 514, 55 N.W.2d 40 (1952): any stream is `navigable in fact' which is capable of floating any boat, skiff, or canoe, of the shallowest draft used for recreational purposes. The DNR hearing examiner found that both Holt Creek and the Little Wolf River were streams navigable in fact. On review this finding must be upheld if it is supported by substantial evidence in the record. Sec. 227.20 (6), Stats. [4] In applying the substantial evidence test, this court has stated that: The substantial evidence test: `should be construed to confer finality upon an administrative decision on the facts when, upon an examination of the entire record, the evidence, including the inferences therefrom, is found to be such that a reasonable man, acting reasonably, might have reached the decision; but, on the other hand, if a reasonable man, acting reasonably, could not have reached the decision from the evidence and its inferences then the decision is not supported by substantial evidence and it should be set aside.' [Citation omitted.] Copland v. Department of Taxation, 16 Wis.2d 543, 554, 114 N.W.2d 858 (1962). [Emphasis in original.] Holtz & Krause, Inc. v. DNR, 85 Wis.2d 198, 204, 270 N.W.2d 409 (1978). Moreover, the reviewing court will neither weigh the evidence nor pass upon the credibility of the witnesses, City of Superior v. ILHR Department, 84 Wis.2d 663, 666, 267 N.W.2d 637 (1978), nor will it, under this standard, upset an agency's finding even if it may be against the great weight and clear preponderance of the evidence. Chicago & North Western Railroad v. Labor & Industry Review Comm., 98 Wis.2d 592, 608, 297 N.W.2d 819, 826 (1980); Holtz & Krause, supra ; DeGayner & Co. v. DNR, 70 Wis.2d 936, 939, 236 N.W. 2d 217 (1975). In their challenge to the examiner's finding of navigability, the petitioners argue that sec. 30.12, Stats. 1973, requires that the determination of navigability must relate to the time at which the structure or deposit is actually placed in the bed of the waterway. The examiner found that the dam was constructed sometime in 1968, and the petitioners argue that there is no evidence of navigability prior to or as early as that date and that navigability in fact may not be determined by retrospective inferences. At the hearing testimony was given by Harry Borner, a DNR special investigator for the Bureau of Law Enforcement. Borner testified that he had worked for the DNR since mid-1953, during which time he estimated he had conducted about two hundred investigations under Chapters 30 and 31, Stats., and had conducted probably fifty tests to determine the navigability in fact of various waterways. He testified that he became familiar with the Omernick property, and specifically Holt Creek and the Little Wolf River, in 1965 and had, over the years, occasioned to be on the Omernick property probably a hundred times or more. On October 27, 1970, Borner and Marathon County District Attorney Daniel LaRocque navigated the Little Wolf River by canoe from a point several miles upstream of the Omernick property downstream through the Omernick property to the Marathon County-Wood County line. Relative to this particular canoe trip, a transcript of testimony from a 1972 DNR water diversion permit hearing was introduced in which Borner testified that, except for heavy growth of vegetation from the side banks and occasional sawn trees across the waterway, he and LaRocque, with a combined weight of over 300 pounds, had no problem navigating the stream in a 15-foot canoe. Also introduced into evidence were 1971 decisions of the Marathon county and circuit courts, issued in conjunction with an action against Ray Omernick for unlawful diversion of water from the Little Wolf River, in which the courts concluded that the Little Wolf River was navigable in fact. Borner also testified to having observed navigation on Holt Creek on three occasions. On August 24, 1969, Borner observed Warden Gruber and Special Warden Wendt navigate Holt Creek through the area of the tractor fill (the deposit) and the upper stream crossing with relative ease after a period of nineteen days without rainfall. A transcript of portions of a 1971 DNR water diversion permit hearing was introduced in which Borner testified that at the 1969 navigation of Holt Creek the water depth varied from six inches to two to three feet. Borner also testified to having observed navigation on Holt Creek on November 11, 1970, by Gruber and LaRocque. The transcript of the 1971 permit hearing contained additional testimony by Borner to the effect that the November 11, 1970, navigation of Holt Creek commenced at the northern-most edge of the Omernick property and proceeded downstream. At the 1971 permit hearing, LaRocque testified that this trip extended approximately two miles through the Omernick property, during which he observed that the stream was as wide as 20 or 25 feet and that it ranged in depth from nine inches to three to four feet, with an average depth in excess of one foot. The third instance of navigation on Holt Creek observed by Borner occurred on May 10, 1971, at which time Gruber and Warden Wnek navigated it by canoe at a point below the dam where the creek flows through property adjacent to the Omernicks. Borner testified that Gruber and Wnek did not navigate through the Omernick property on that occasion but portaged to a point where the creek reentered the neighboring property. A copy of a 1971 Marathon county circuit court decision was placed in evidence regarding a contempt action against Ray Omernick for violation of an order enjoining him from diverting water from Holt Creek. In that opinion the court concluded that Holt Creek was a navigable stream. Borner also testified that he had observed Holt Creek prior to the placement of the dam, the tractor fill, and the crossings, and he considered it to have been navigable then. [5] We believe that on this evidence and the inferences which arise from it a reasonable man, acting reasonably, could have reached the conclusion that the Little Wolf River was navigable in fact and that Holt Creek was navigable in fact in 1968, contemporaneously with the construction of the dam. Accordingly, the finding of navigability by the hearing examiner must be upheld.