Hewitt-Lea Lumber Co. v. King County

Citations

• 113 Wash. 431
• 194 P. 377
• 21 A.L.R. 201
• 1920 Wash. LEXIS 847

Syllabus

<p>Navicable Waters (24) — Grants—Title to Meander Line. Under the disclaimer on the part of the state, in Const., art 17, § 2, to all tide, swamp and overflowed lands patented by the United States, a United States patent, prior to statehood, passes title to all the lands above the meander line, although covered by the navigable waters of a slough in a lake.</p> <p>Same (21, 24) — Grants and Rights of Patentees — Ownership and Control — Government Improvement of Navigation. A riparian owner’s title to lands underlying navigable waters within the meander line is a base or qualified fee, subject to the right of the government to improve the navigability of the waters; and it is immaterial that the improvement is undertaken, not directly by Congress, but by a county under permission of Congress, for the benefit of the general public.</p> <p>Eminent Domain (57, 61) — Compensation—Elements and Property Subject — Preventing Access to Navigation. The base or qualified fee of a riparian owner to lands underlying navigable waters within the meander line is taken or damaged, within the meaning of Const., art 1, § 16, entitling him to compensation, where the navigability of the waters is destroyed through the lowering of the waters by the construction of a ship canal, although the improvement created a new artificial navigable course elsewhere.</p>