The Florida Inland Navigation District was created by the Florida Legislature in 1927,  to be the state sponsor of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Florida. This law authorized the Navigation District to purchase the existing East Coast Canal that had previously been constructed by private interests and which ran from Jacksonville to Miami. The Navigation District purchased the Canal in 1928 and it became the public waterway known as the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Florida.

Today, the Navigation District's responsibilities can be found under Chapter 374 of the Florida Statutes. This law states that the principal function of the Navigation District as the state sponsor of the Waterway is to furnish to the United States of America, the federal sponsor of the waterway, all lands required by them to construct, operate and maintain the Waterway. Additionally, the Legislature authorized the Navigation District to perform Waterway projects on behalf of the United States as well as working with other governmental agencies to provide waterway access for our mutual constituents.

The Navigation District consists of the twelve counties along the east coast of Florida from Nassau through Miami-Dade County. The Governor appoints a commissioner from each county to serve on the Navigation District's Board of Commissioners. The Board levies a real property tax on all property within the District's boundaries to generate the funds necessary to fulfill the District's responsibilities.