United States v. Willow River Power Co.

United States v. Willow River Power Co.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 8, 9, 1945 Decided March 26, 1945
Full case name	United States v. Willow River Power Co.
Citations	324 U.S. 499 (more) 65 S. Ct. 761; 89 L. Ed. 1101
Prior history	101 Ct. Cls. 222 (reversed)
Court membership
Case opinions
Majority	Jackson, joined by Black, Reed, Frankfurter, Douglas, Murphy, Rutledge
Dissent	Roberts, joined by Stone
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. V

United States v. Willow River Power Co., 324 U.S. 499 (1945) is a 1945 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court involving the question whether the United States was liable under the Fifth Amendment for a “taking” of private property for a public purpose when it built a dam on navigable waters that raised the water level upstream to lessen the head of water at a power company’s dam, thereby decreasing the production of power by the company’s hydroelectric turbines. The Court’s opinion is notable because it considers whether the courts will provide a remedy because a property right has been invaded, or whether a property right exists because the courts will enforce it. The question is analogous to the dilemma found in Plato's dialogue Euthyphro.

The Mississippi River, a navigable stream, is joined by the St. Croix River, another navigable stream, slightly above Red Wing, Minnesota. Farther up the St. Croix, the Willow River, a non-navigable stream, flowed into the St. Croix, but some years ago a dam was built blocking off the former mouth of the Willow. A channel was dug above that dam, connecting the Willow to the St. Croix, and the channel was also dammed. A mill was built to exploit the head of water created by the two dams. Subsequently, the Willow River Power Company acquired the land adjacent to these dams and it built a hydroelectric facility near them. The spillway or tailrace below the power’s company’s turbines exited into the St. Croix River. (See map.)