ORS 780.010 Stream improvement authorized; channel obstruction prohibited

Any person, association, or corporation may enter upon the channel or bed of any and all rivers and watercourses, navigable or susceptible of being made navigable, and perform work and labor thereon, and make such improvement of the same by clearing out or deepening the channel, constructing wing dams, blasting and removing rocks or ledges, removing sand bars, gravel bars, snags and all other obstructions to navigation, so as to render the rivers or any of them navigable at all seasons of the year or to improve the navigation. No work authorized by ORS 780.010 and 780.020 to be done shall be so done or conducted as to obstruct in any manner, either temporarily or otherwise, any channel or river now navigable, but the closing of one or more channels in any river in order to deepen or cause more water to flow in the main channel shall not be construed as constituting an obstruction to the navigation of any river or watercourse.