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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>73587</law_id><section_number>62.1-104</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="62.1">Waters of the State, Ports and Harbors</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="8">Impoundment of Surface Waters</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> Except as modified below, the definitions contained in Title 1 shall apply in this chapter. <a id="paragraph-264704" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="2"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Board</span>&#x201D; means the State Water Control <span class="dictionary">Board</span>. However, when used outside the context of the promulgation of regulations, including regulations to establish general permits, pursuant to this chapter, &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Board</span>&#x201D; means the Department of Environmental Quality. <a id="paragraph-264705" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="3"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Impounding structure</span>&#x201D; means a man-made device, whether a dam across a <span class="dictionary">watercourse</span> or other structure outside a <span class="dictionary">watercourse</span>, used or to be used for the authorized storage of flood waters for subsequent beneficial use. <a id="paragraph-264706" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="4"><p><span class="prefix-number">4.</span> &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Watercourse</span>&#x201D; means a natural channel having a well-defined bed and banks and in which water flows when it normally does flow. For the purposes hereof they shall be limited to rivers, creeks, streams, branches, and other <span class="dictionary">watercourses</span> which are nonnavigable in <span class="dictionary">fact</span> and which are wholly within the <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> of the Commonwealth. <a id="paragraph-264707" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#4"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="5"><p><span class="prefix-number">5.</span> &#x201C;Riparian land&#x201D; is land which is contiguous to and touches a <span class="dictionary">watercourse</span>. It does not include land outside the watershed of the <span class="dictionary">watercourse</span>. Real property under common ownership and which is not separated from riparian land by land of any other ownership shall likewise be deemed riparian land, notwithstanding that such real property is divided into tracts and parcels which may not bound upon the <span class="dictionary">watercourse</span>. <a id="paragraph-264708" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#5"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="6"><p><span class="prefix-number">6.</span> &#x201C;Riparian owner&#x201D; is an owner of riparian land. <a id="paragraph-264709" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#6"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="7"><p><span class="prefix-number">7.</span> &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Average flow</span>&#x201D; means the average discharge of a stream at a particular point and normally is expressed in cubic feet per second. It may be determined from actual measurements or computed from the most accurate information available. <a id="paragraph-264710" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#7"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="8"><p><span class="prefix-number">8.</span> &#x201C;Diffused surface waters&#x201D; are those which, resulting from precipitation, flow down across the surface of the land until they reach a <span class="dictionary">watercourse</span>, after which they become parts of streams. <a id="paragraph-264711" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#8"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="9"><p><span class="prefix-number">9.</span> &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Floodwaters</span>&#x201D; means water in a stream which is over and above the <span class="dictionary">average flow</span>. <a id="paragraph-264712" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#9"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="10"><p><span class="prefix-number">10.</span> &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Court</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">circuit</span> <span class="dictionary">court</span> of the county or city in which an impoundment is located or proposed to be located. <a id="paragraph-264713" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/62.1-104/#10"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 62-94.1; 1956, c. 632; 1958, c. 638; 1968, c. 659; 1977, c. 26; 2022, c. 356.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
