Definitions

  • Agricultural Activity means the use of land for the production of agronomic, horticultural or silvicultural crops, including nursery stock, sod, fruits, vegetables, flowers, forages, cover crops, grains, and Christmas trees. Agricultural activity also includes grazing.
  • Bioengineering Stabilization means the strategic installation of natural, vegetative, biologically active materials in conjunction with toe stabilization, riprap or other hard-armoring materials to stabilize shoreline or streambank areas and associated slopes and to prevent erosion.
  • Biological Stabilization means the strategic placement of natural, vegetative, biologically active materials – such as but not limited to brush mattresses, live stakes/plantings, brush layering, fiber rolls, root wads, and willow wattles – to stabilize shoreline or streambank areas and prevent erosion.
  • BMPs (Best Management Practices) are actions taken to prevent or reduce detrimental impacts to the environment while maintaining the natural characteristics of the environment.
  • Beds of a Waterbody means all portions of a waterbody located below the ordinary high water level.
  • Dredge means the removal of sediment or other materials from the beds, banks, or shores of a waterbody by means of hydraulic suction, mechanical excavation, or any other means.
  • Excavation means the displacement or removal of sediment or other material.
  • Fast Track Permit means a permit issued by staff for standard riprap, sandblankets, or maintenance fill projects, which are installed according to technical specifications provided by District engineers, or an erosion control permit issued by staff in accordance with the criteria in Rule B.
  • Fill means any material placed or intended to be placed on the bed or bank of any protected water or wetland. Fill must be clean, inorganic material that is free of pollutants.
  • General Permit means a permit issued that is subject to staff and/or engineer review and board approval.
  • Land-Disturbing Activity or Land Disturbance means any disturbance to the ground surface that, through the action of wind or water, may result in soil erosion or the movement of sediment into waters, wetlands, or storm sewers or onto adjacent property. Land-disturbing activity includes but is not limited to the demolition of a structure or surface, soil stripping, clearing, grubbing, grading, excavating, filling, and the storage of soil or earth materials.
  • Maintenance Fill means 1 inch or less of evenly spread fill material that may be placed in the floodplain as bed preparation for sodding or seeding purposes.
  • Native Vegetation means plant species that are indigenous to Minnesota or that expand the range into Minnesota without being intentionally or unintentionally introduced by human activity and that are classified as native in the Minnesota Plant Database, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, 2002.
  • New Principal Residential Structure means a single-family residential building constructed on undeveloped property zoned for residential use or on a property zoned for residential use from which the principal building has been removed for purposes of constructing a new single-family residential building.
  • One Hundred Year High Water Elevation means the highest water elevation associated with a waterbody reached during a 24-hour precipitation event with a recurrence interval of 100 years, as specified by the District in a written guidance document or, if not so specified, as determined by the District in order to act on a permit application.
  • Ordinary High Water Level (OHW) means the boundary of a waterbody and shall be an elevation delineating the highest water level that has been maintained for a sufficient period of time to leave evidence upon the landscape, commonly that point where the natural vegetation changes from predominantly aquatic to predominantly terrestrial. For watercourses, the ordinary high water level shall be the elevation of the top of the bank of the channel. For reservoirs and flowages, the ordinary high water level is the operating elevation of the normal summer pool.
  • Person means any natural person, partnership, unincorporated association, corporation, municipal corporation, or political subdivision of the State of Minnesota.
  • PID means Property Tax Identification Number and is an abbreviated method to substitute for the legal description for a parcel of property (ex. 03-117-24 33 0004 is Section 3 of Township 117; Range 24; Quarter 33 and Parcel 4).
  • Preserve Wetland is the highest of four management classifications assigned through use of either the District’s Functional Assessment of Wetlands (FAW) or the current version of the Minnesota Routine Assessment Method (MnRAM).
  • Public Waters means all waters identified as public waters under Minn Stat.103G.005, Subd. 15.
  • Public Waters Wetlands means all wetlands identified as public waters wetlands under Minn. Stat. 103G.005, Subd. 18.
  • Regional Flood means a flood that is representative of large floods known to have occurred generally in Minnesota and reasonably characteristic of what can be expected to occur on an average frequency in the magnitude of the 100-year recurrence interval.
  • Residential Appurtenance means (a) a driveway; or (b) a structure or surface that throughout the watershed customarily is associated with residential use of a property and that does not exceed 5,000 square feet of hard surface.
  • Shoreline means the ordinary high water level and the area that continues out toward the water.
  • Stabilization Zone means the area of land parallel to a shoreline or streambank and extending 20 feet inland from all points along the ordinary high water mark of the shoreline.
  • Structural Stabilization is the use of engineered systems – such as riprap, retaining walls, headwalls, groins, revetments, and gabions – to stabilize shoreline or streambank areas and associated slopes and to prevent erosion.
  • Subwatershed means one of the 15 major subwatershed planning units within the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
  • Top of Bank means the ordinary high water level for a water basin or wetland, and the break in slope for a watercourse.
  • Waterbasin means an enclosed natural depression with definable banks capable of containing water that may be partly filled with waters.
  • Waterbody means all waterbasins, watercourses, and wetlands as defined in these rules.
  • Watercourse means any channel having definable beds and banks capable of conducting generally confined runoff from adjacent lands, or any channel included in the District’s inventory of first order streams. During floods, water may leave the confining beds and banks but under low and normal flows, water is confined within the channel. A watercourse may be perennial or intermittent. Watercourse does not include roadside ditches created by excavation or other human construction activity.
  • Wetland Buffer Zone means an area of native, unmaintained, vegetated ground cover abutting or surrounding a wetland. Buffer width is dependent on wetland size (see Rule D, subsection 2.c.).
  • Wetlands means all wetlands identified as wetlands under Minnesota Stat. 103G.005, Subd 19. The term does not include "public waters wetlands" as defined under Minnesota Statutes 103G.005, subdivision 15a.
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