The Illinois Supreme Court’s decision on the Mazon River and its implications for smaller rivers, such as those in Will and DeKalb counties, prompts advocates and supporters of public waterways to react.
Advocates and supporters of public waterways say they are concerned about the implications that a recent Illinois Supreme Court decision could have on the DuPage and Kishwaukee rivers.
The state’s highest court ruled in June that the public has no right to use part of the Mazon River in Grundy County that flows across private property for recreation purposes.
A court opinion filed around that time in reference to the case suggests that both sides disagreed over who could kayak and access the river at which points. The case, Holm vs. Kodat, involved two property owners who both owned land along the Mazon River. The plaintiffs argued that since they owned property along the Mazon, they had a right to navigate the entire waterway, even the portions of the river which abutted to land owned by someone else.
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