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

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

 or river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

.

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 licencing scheme for boats on waterways 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 (water transport)
  A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
  
   and other structures
• Dredging 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 landowners.

Major authorities

• British Waterways
  British Waterways
  British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
  
   - most canals and approximately half of all rivers
• Environment Agency
  Environment Agency
  The Environment Agency is a British non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Assembly Government Sponsored Body of the Welsh Assembly Government that serves England and Wales.-Purpose:...
  
  
  • Fens and Anglian system
    Fens and Anglian system
    The Fens and Anglian system is a collection of rivers in East Anglia in England that are navigable and for which the Environment Agency is the navigation authority....
    
    : Ancholme
    River Ancholme
    The River Ancholme is a river in North Lincolnshire, England, and a tributary of the Humber estuary.It rises south of Bishopbridge and passes through many Lincolnshire villages and the market town of Brigg before flowing north into the Humber at South Ferriby.North of Bishopbridge, where the River...
    
    , Glen
    River Glen, Lincolnshire
    The River Glen is a river in Lincolnshire, England with a short stretch passing through Rutland near Essendine.The river's name appears to derive from a Brythonic Celtic language but there is a strong early English connection.-Naming:...
    
    , Great Ouse
    River Great Ouse
    The Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...
    
    , Nene
    River Nene
    The River Nene is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in the county of Northamptonshire. The tidal river forms the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk for about . It is the tenth longest river in the United Kingdom, and is navigable for from Northampton to The...
    
    , Stour
    River Stour, Suffolk
    The River Stour is a river in East Anglia, England. It is 76 km long and forms most of the county boundary between Suffolk to the north, and Essex to the south. It rises in eastern Cambridgeshire, passes to the east of Haverhill, through Cavendish, Sudbury and the Dedham Vale, and joins the...
    
    , Welland
    River Welland
    The River Welland is a river in the east of England, some long. It rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market Harborough, Stamford and Spalding, to reach The Wash near Fosdyke. For much of its length it forms the county boundary between...
    
    
  • Medway
    River Medway
    The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....
    
    
  • Wye
    River Wye
    The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
    
     and Lugg
    River Lugg
    The River Lugg , rises near Llangynllo, Powys. It flows through the border town of Presteigne, Wales then through Herefordshire, England, including the town of Leominster, south of which it is met by a tributary, the River Arrow, then to a confluence with the River Wye, which it joins at Mordiford,...
    
    
  • Non-tidal Thames
    River Thames
    The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
    
    
  • Royal Military Canal
    Royal Military Canal
    The Royal Military Canal is a canal running for 28 miles between Seabrook near Folkestone and Cliff End near Hastings, following the old cliff line bordering Romney Marsh.-Construction:...
    
    

Minor authorities

• Basingstoke Canal Authority (Basingstoke Canal
  Basingstoke Canal
  The Basingstoke Canal is a British Canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation....
  
  )
• Broads Authority
  Broads Authority
  The Broads Authority is the agency which has statutory responsibility for the Broads in England. Originally, the Nature Conservancy Council , pressed for a special authority to manage the Broads which had been neglected for a long time. In 1978, the forerunner to the present-day Broads Authority...
  
  
• Conservators of the River Cam
  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, but this position changed with the draining of the Fens...
  
  
• Manchester Ship Canal Company
• Middle Level Commissioners
  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 Corporation....
  
   (Middle Level Navigations
  Middle Level Navigations
  The Middle Level Navigations are a network of waterways in England, primarily used for land drainage, between the Rivers Nene and Great Ouse, between Peterborough and Cambridge.- History :...
  
  )
• National Trust
  National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
  The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
  
   (River Wey and Godalming Navigations
  Wey and Godalming Navigations
  The Wey and Godalming Navigations is the name given to the navigable parts of the River Wey, in Surrey, UK. The navigation runs for around between the River Thames below Shepperton Lock near Weybridge, to the south-west of London, and the centre of Godalming, in Surrey; it runs through Guildford...
  
  )
• Port of London Authority
  Port of London Authority
  The Port of London Authority is a self-funding public trust established in 1908 by the Port of London Act to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and the authority is responsible for the public right of navigation and for conservancy of the...
  
   (Tidal River Thames
  Tideway
  The Tideway is a name given to the part of the River Thames in England that is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock and is just under long...
  
  )

See also

• Canals of the United Kingdom
  Canals of the United Kingdom
  The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
  
  
• History of the British canal system
  History of the British canal system
  The British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...